THREE people have been injured after a helicopter crashed on a busy Spanish motorway shortly after taking off.
The chopper came down on the M40 motorway near Madrid apparently after being destabilised by strong winds.
Twitter/@OnAviationA chopper has crashed on a motorway near Madrid, Spain[/caption]
SolarpixEmergency services are at the scene[/caption]
The aircraft also hit a car as it came down on the motorway ring road on Friday morning.
Two people were in the helicopter, one was able to exit on foot, while the other was rescued from the wreckage by firefighters, an emergency service spokesperson told Reuters.
Both were injured in the crash, as was the driver of the car hit by the helicopter, emergency services said.
One of the crash survivors had a light head injury, another seems to have a broken femur and the third suffered light injuries, the spokesperson said.
Their nationalities are not yet known.
El Mundo newspaper showed pictures of yellow wreckage near the pillar of a motorway bridge.
The Spanish paper also reported that a strong gust of wind could have caused the crash.
Despite the fact it came down on a busy motorway, there are no other reports at this stage of any casualties.
Traffic has been halted in both directions so emergency services can work at the scene.
The accident has been linked to heavy wind thought to have destabilised the chopper.
Local reports are pointing to it participating in a helicopter industry exhibition called European Rotors which ran from November 27 to November 30 at Madrid’s IFEMA exhibition centre.
The fair was presented as one of the most important in the helicopter aviation sector and one of the largest in Europe with more than 200 exhibitors and 20 helicopters.
Aviation news website On The Wings of Aviation reported: “The Enstrom 280FX Shark helicopter with registration F-HPUX that was participating in the European Rotors fair that was taking place in Ifema has crashed on the M40 in Madrid shortly after taking off.
“The helicopter has fallen at kilometer point 5,600 of the inner ring.
“At the moment it is unknown if there are any injuries or the causes of the accident.”
The Sun is your go to destination for the best celebrity news, football news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.
Download our fantastic, new and improved free App for the best ever Sun Online experience. For iPhone click here, for Android click here.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheSun and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSun.