Thierry Dubois is a freelance writer specializing in helicopters, business aviation and aerospace technology. He earned a degree in fluid dynamics from an engineering school in Toulouse, France in the mid-1990s. At an unexpected crossroads, he found his first job in journalism. In 1997, he started working for French aerospace weekly Air &amp; Cosmos in Paris. This lasted until 2000, when he moved south to Lyons. He then became a freelancer, working for various aerospace publications and has been part of the AIN team since late 2000. In addition to writing about business aviation, Thierry shares responsibility for the rotorcraft section. He also is a regular on-site writer for AIN’s daily editions at international airshows such as the Paris, Farnborough, Dubai and Singapore shows, as well as at EBACE in Geneva.
In 2007, he won the Honeywell award for “Best systems or technology submission” at the Aerospace journalist of the year awards. In 2013, he won an Aerospace Media Award for the "Best Safety, Training &amp; Simulation Submission."
In other activities, Thierry moderates international conferences on aviation technology topics. Thierry is married and has three children, who seem to begin enjoying the mountains–as their parents do.

Writer

Thierry Dubois

The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch released factual details yesterday on the <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/2013-01-16/helicopter-crash-central-london-kills-two">fatal crash of an AgustaWestland A109E helicopter in central London last week</a>, highlighting the poor visibility the pilot was facing. The light twin hit a 719-foot-high crane jib at 7:59:25 a.m., killing the pilot and one person in the street below. It was flying back to Redhill after an aborted attempt to land at Elstree aerodrome.


Transit via the London Eye was approved in “VFR or special VFR.” At 07:56, the pilot requested a diversion to London Heliport in Battersea. The controller contacted the heliport “to see what their cloud [was] looking like.” The heliport’s answer is unknown thus far, but London City Airport was reporting visibility of 2,300 feet with a broken cloud base at 100 feet.


Though current rules prohibit non-IFR flights in the London Control Zone when visibility is less than 3,300 feet, ATC told the pilot at 7:59:10 that the diversion was approved. The tops of the crane and the adjacent building, near Vauxhall Bridge, were obscured by cloud at that time.

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