Teenage girls' lucky escape after driving car off 75ft cliff
Two teenagers whose car plunged 75ft down a sheer cliff face onto rocks clambered out of the wreckage - and then had to climb back up the rocks to raise the alarm. Coral Ogilvie, 17, and Francesca Blackmore, 17, were travelling in a Ford Fiesta when it hit wet leaves and skidded through trees. The small blue car then tumbled off a cliff face - spinning four times and smashing head-first onto jagged rocks 75ft below.
Both air bags deployed and all four doors swung open as the car hit the rocky surface. Miraculously, neither girl was seriously hurt and both of them clambered out of the car but were unable to get a mobile phone signal to call for help. Stranded in pitch darkness, the pals had no choice but to clamber back up the cliff until they reached a ledge 30ft from the top where they got a signal and dialled 999.
Clearing the vehicles below by the narrowest of margins, a plane swoops in to land at one of the world's most dramatic airstrips. Although the clearance is supposed to be 20ft, the scooter riders and car driver take no chances and duck for their own safety.
Pilots need a special licence to land at the strip on the island of Saint-Barthélemy, or St Barts, in the French West Indies and despite the apparent dangers, there have been only two fatal accidents at the airport over the years. At 2,133ft, its runway is one of the shortest in the world and equivalent in length to five football pitches. Tourist websites are upbeat about arriving by plane, with one saying: 'The landing, especially on a windy day, is an adventure in itself.'
The island, with a population of just 8,400, has become a hideaway for the rich and famous and visitors include the actor Harrison Ford and singer P Diddy.
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Just a wee suggestion, maybe they could try landing planes from the other end?
Car theives look to have have taken the expression "living on the edge" to a new level after they left a 4x4 perched precariously near a cliff-face. Police were called after a rambler snapped the Mitsubishi - because there were concerns someone was still in it.
Sandra Uttley, who was out walking her dog, said: "I spotted the car and I noticed it still had its engine running. I was worried there could be someone sat in the car as the area has been the site of some suicides in the past. I tried to climb down but quickly realised it wasn't a good idea so I came back and called the police. It looked like the car may have just been left to roll down to where it ended up."
The car had been stolen from Hinderwell, near Whitby, on March 11 and it's unclear whether the thieves drove it down the steep bank or pushed it hoping it would fall off the edge. The dramatic picture was captured by holidaymaker Tom Pattinson. Police recovered the car and have been carrying out forensic tests. No arrests have been made over the theft.
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click the 'hidden' button underneath the first picture for a better view of what happened...
Lorry crashes feet from campers The lorry landed just two feet from one of the men's tents
Three men on a fishing trip had a lucky escape when a 40 tonne lorry careered off a road and crashed just 2ft from one of their tents. The men, from Hartlepool, were camping beside Auchenreoch Loch, Crocketford, nine miles from Dumfries, when the crash happened at 0400 BST on Saturday. The lorry left the A75 Gretna-Stranraer road, went down an embankment, crashed into trees and landed beside the tent.
The driver, 66, from Mauchline in Ayrshire, received serious injuries. He is being treated at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary. The shocked fishermen, who have not been named, helped the injured man from his cab before realising just how close they had come to being hit by the lorry. It had been heading west to the ferry port at Stranraer when the accident a happened.
The fishermen had camped overnight on the banks of the loch which is popular for coarse fishing, boating and water-skiing. Steve Bean, from the Lochview Motel and Restaurant about 300 yards from the scene of the accident, said: "The men come here fishing regularly but I only know them by their first name. It's an absolute miracle that they survived this. If it hadn't been for the trees they would have been crushed to death. The lorry was ready for turning over but it went down through the trees. They were so badly shocked by the crash when they realised that they could have been killed, that they went back home. They were up for the May Bank Holiday weekend but it could have turned into a real tragedy. One of them was able to joke about it after. He told me that they wanted up early but they didn't want an early call like that. They told me they were going back home to get drunk after surviving that."
A police officer at the scene said: "They are certainly three lucky men. If it hadn't been for the trees then it would have gone right over their tent. They will never be luckier than this. It happened at around 4am and they could easily have been killed." Local farmer Clark Lamont added: "I've never seen anything like it. It appears they had three tents and they moved one of the tents at night or it would have been right in the path of the lorry. It was only the trees that saved them."
The moment a speedboat flew through the air and crashed into a golf course bunker
13 May 2008
Terrified golfers had a lucky escape yesterday after an out-of-control speedboat hurtled through the air and crashed into a bunker. The Final Fling boat careered into the course at Loch Lomond, Dunbartonshire, after hitting rocks. Its skipper was forced to jump into the water after waves from another vessel sent the speedboat off course. Meanwhile, golfers on shore were forced to run for cover.
French tourists Claude Bieth and Catherine Guillet were enjoying a round of golf when the boat crashed. Mr Bieth told the Daily Record: "The boat seemed to go in slow motion and came to a halt in the bunker. The motor kept going but it was stuck fast."
Clyde Coastguard launched a major search operation after the boat crashed around 3pm yesterday. A military helicopter was scrambled, a lifeboat was launched and a request for help was issued to all ships in the area. The boat's skipper, who was not injured, was located a short time later. Calum Murray, Clyde Coastguard's watch manager, said: "We do deal with a number of beached vessels, but I don't think that we have ever had one which landed in a golf course bunker." A club spokeswoman said: "Thankfully no one was hurt."
Loch Lomond Golf Club is one of the most prestigious golf courses in Scotland. Golfer Colin Montgomerie chose the location for his wedding last month to partner Gaynor Knowles. The club will host the Scottish Open in July.
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I don't understand how this could have happened at all - to get that far up the beach he must have been going some speed, and why would he be going that speed in that direction? And why isn't the boat damaged?!
The miracle window cleaner who fell 47 storeys from New York skyscraper 10th June 2008
A window cleaner who survived plummeting 47 storeys is back on his feet only six months later. Alcides Moreno has astounded family, friends and doctors with his extraordinary recovery from the horror fall that killed his brother. Doctors described his survival as miraculous. Now the only signs of his terrible ordeal are a limp and a long scar on his left leg.
Moreno, 37, and brother Edgar, 30, were cleaning windows at the top of a New York apartment building when cables connecting their cleaning platform to the roof failed. The brothers fell 500ft inside their cleaning scaffold with Alcides suffering injuries to his brain, chest and abdomen, as well as fractured ribs, a broken arm and broken legs. Doctors managed to save his life but he underwent 16 operations during six-weeks in hospital, and received 24 pints of blood.
Mr Moreno, of Linden, New Jersey, stunned doctors when he spoke his first words on Christmas Day, after coming out of a medically induced coma. 'I did what?' the dad-of-three asked nurses as he regained consciousness for the first time. Now the Ecuadorian-born worker has returned to his home after months of physiotherapy, which he must undergo three times a week.
Dr Philip S Barie, chief of critical care at the New York hospital that treated Mr Moreno, said: 'Above ten storeys, most of the time we never see the patients because they usually go to the morgue. This is right up there with those anecdotes of people falling out of airplanes and surviving.'
The wreckage of the tractor at the side of the rail line at Weston Rhyn Tractor driver has lucky escape after being hit by train By Wil Longbottom
20th July 2008
A tractor driver suffered serious injuries tonight when his vehicle was hit by a passenger train on a level crossing. West Midlands Ambulance Service said the 23-year-old man was 'lucky to be alive' after the accident at Weston Rhyn, near Oswestry, Shropshire, at 4.50pm. The tractor driver suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries to his head and chest, as well as a fractured wrist, and was taken to the Maelor Hospital in Wrexham.
A spokesman for the ambulance service confirmed that the train, which was carrying 17 passengers, was not derailed by the crash. Ambulance Officer Cliff Medlicott, who attended the incident, said the tractor had suffered a 'huge' amount of damage and was moved along the track a short distance by the train.
Mr Medlicott, of West Midlands Ambulance Service, said: 'There were a total of 17 passengers, the train driver and a guard on the train, which was travelling from Oswestry to Wrexham. By good fortune, a doctor from the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital was on board and assisted ambulance crews. Thankfully the only other injury was to a female passenger who was treated at the scene for minor neck pain. This had the potential to be a much more serious incident - thankfully it wasn't.'
Two ambulances, four paramedic officers, a rapid response vehicle and the County Air Ambulance from Cosford, Shropshire, were jointly sent to the scene by the West Midlands and Welsh Ambulance Services.
Driver somersaults on to rail track, smashes way out with golf clubs and calls 999 to prevent train crash By Lucy Thornton
21/07/2008
Upside down and stuck on a rail track, Adam Ross's car looks like a cast-iron death trap. It was just after six in the morning when his VW Golf skidded, flipped over and landed on the busy line.
When Adam, 22, realised the doors were stuck he thought of his partner Michelle, 27, who he had just kissed goodbye, and their baby due in October. Then "the adrenaline kicked in" and he grabbed a golf club from the back of the car and smashed a window. Once free he called 999 and the trains were stopped.
Adam, a Pizza Hut boss, recalled losing control of his car as he was concerned about another vehicle coming up fast behind him. He said: "I rolled over and over and the windscreen smashed. The car landed on its roof. I could see train tracks as gravel flew into my eyes. I thought, 'This is it'. I'd kissed Michelle goodbye 10 minutes earlier. I thought I'dnever see her again. I knew I had to get out. If a train came I would be a goner. I couldn't get out of the front windscreen as the car was nose down on to the track."
"Both front doors were jammed so I crawled into the boot. As I struggled with the boot lock I saw a guy approach. He was just a few feet away. It was the driver who had been following me. I banged and yelled on the rear window and he saw me. Then he ran off. He knew I couldn't get out but he still ran away. I thought, 'That's it. I'm dead. He's run off because a train's coming'. "
"I grabbed a golf club that was in the boot and smashed a rear window and crawled out. Luckily I played golf the day before and left the clubs in there. I quickly rang 999 and five minutes later the police were with me and the trains stopped. All this time I wasn't aware of the cuts on my arms and face." Adam, of Bridlington, East Yorks, added: "If I'd been knocked unconscious I'd be dead. Nobody can believe how lucky I've been."
He was on his way to work in Hull when he crashed at the unmanned Carnaby crossing on the Hull to Scarborough line on July 7. Since 2005, 300 drivers have been prosecuted for running the lights - but they were not on when Adam crashed. Police said: "It was fortunate no one was injured."
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He's a lucky bastard for sure, but how did he crash without him knowing what happened?
Pilot escapes injury after his landing his plane upside down.
The 56-year-old crash landed in a field in Burton Green, Llay, north Wales, after experiencing fuel problems. The man was helped from the aircraft by a local farmer and then taken to Wrexham Maelor Hospital with minor injuries, said a North Wales Fire Service spokesman.
He said: "The pilot was forced to land due to fuel problems but landed upside down. The pilot is unhurt."
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Hopefully some pics of this magnificently lucky b*stard will turn up before long...
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