Three people escape helicopter crash with cuts and bruises

Three people miraculously survived when a helicopter crashed on the way to a funeral - escaping with just cuts and bruises.

Two women were being flown to the event in Sussex when an engine fault forced the pilot to make an emergency landing.

He skillfully put the Robinson R44 Raven down onto farmland just a mile from the M1 outside the village of Aspley Guise, Beds.

The helicopter flipped onto its side as it landed around 11am on Wednesday and emergency services raced to the scene expecting serious casualties.

But five police cars and a fire engine arrived to find the two women and pilot had managed to kicked their way out of the wreckage and walk away without serious injury.

Inspector Tracey Day, of Bedfordshire Police, said: "The passengers are very lucky to be alive.

"It's usually quite unlikely you are going to get to a helicopter crash and find you have got survivors.

"I was very pleased when I got there to find three people with cuts and bruises, but everyone had walked away relatively unscathed."

All three were checked over by paramedics but did not require treatment for their injuries.

Police escorted the two women back to their home in Salford, Beds. and they later went to the funeral by road.

The Air Accident Investigation Bureau said it will not be investigating.