Low helicopter frightens horse (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Low helicopter frightens horse

Sue Jardine and Wendy Backes ride near where their friend came off her horse Picture Ref: 99156-59A RIDER is in hospital with suspected back injuries after her horse was spooked by a low-flying helicopter.

The incident occurred shortly before 4pm yesterday when three riders took their horses for a canter along Wharf Road, north of Wroughton when the helicopter, apparently flying at treetop height passed over the road scaring all three.

One of the female riders was thrown off her horse and landed on her back.

Paramedics were called and treated her for back injuries. She was taken to the Great Western Hospital.

Rider Wendy Backes, 48, from Wroughton was one of the riders in the group.

She said: "It was just a normal trip we take in the afternoon. We hadn't even been out 10 minutes when I spotted the helicopter low in the distance I told everyone to be aware that it was coming, but it seemed dangerously low.

"I saw it behind a tree, then it seemed to pop up over the tree and come back down again, at that point, we tried to look after the horses, and we covered their faces and waited for the inevitable.

"After it had passed we realised one of us was on the floor. It brought the traffic to a complete standstill and there were lots of cars so someone must have seen something."

Fellow rider, Sue Jardine, 51 from West Swindon said: "I saw the helicopter head-on, I guess it was an Army helicopter, it was very big and painted up in dark colours, but we weren't paying that much attention, we were just trying to keep the horses calm."

Royal Air Force helicopters such as Chinooks, Merlins and Pumas are occasionally seen flying at treetop height over the land between the M4 and Wroughton, however there are also a number of civilian-owned ex-military helicopters operating from airstrips around the Swindon area.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence in London said there had been no reported incidents of low-flying on the day and that there were no exercises in the area.

However, she said aircraft could have been crossing through the area at a low level.

She said: "We do try to share the burden of low-flying across the UK.

"In this case we would encourage the people who were involved to make an official complaint through our low-level helpline so that we can carry out an investigation."

Ms Backes added: "It's a frightening experience for the horse and the rider, I was riding on the Ridgeway a few years ago, and a Chinook helicopter had landed in a field. As we were passing it took-off and my horse bolted it's not an experience I wanted to relive."

Necessary part of training

Low-flying is a key component in the training of pilots in jets and helicopters.

The MoD says its low-flying programme is kept to the minimum.

Low-flying training is carried out all over the country and helicopters are allowed to fly as low as anything from 250ft down to ground level.

Even Lyneham-based Hercules transport aircraft are sometimes permitted to fly at heights between 250ft and 100ft during daylight hours.

However a number of recent cases involving horses have brought the reasons for low-flying into question.

Last August an inquest into the death of 38-year-old Heather Bell from Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, concluded she suffered brain damage after a fall from her horse.

The fall was caused when a Chinook helicopter flew over the horse at 30ft spooking it and making it bolt.

Now there are a number of campaigns to reduce low-flying.

Linda Butler-Blades of Stop Low Flying said: "We appreciate the need to train pilots, but there is plenty of land across the country owned by the MoD that they can use for flying these big helicopters. How many more deaths will it take them to realise this?"

Anthony Osborne