Police Probe Fatal Helicopter Crash in London

(NECN/NBC News: Michelle Kosinski, London) - A helicopter crashed Wednesday morning in central London during the morning rush hour near the River Thames.

Police say the helicopter crashed into a construction crane on a high-rise building and then fell to the busy street below. This happened during rush hour in a very busy part of central London.

A commercial helicopter trying to land because of the fog crashed into a construction crane on top of a tall residential tower here, cutting off a big chunk of that crane and sending the helicopter hurdling to the ground in a fire ball that claimed the lives of the pilot and a person on the ground.

"We were sitting having a coffee about half past seven and we just heard an explosion. It sounded like a fighter plane flying over, and we just heard a loud explosion and we thought there'd been a terrorist attack and we came straight out onto the main road, and there were these huge plumes of smoke," said Witness Matt Harverson.

A witness said the helicopter actually landed on top of a car which was also in flames.

"About a few seconds later there was another bang when the helicopter crashed into the road, just down there and a big fireball, black smoke and people were running around everywhere," Witness Ray Watts said.

One person was rescued from a burning car. At least nine other people were hurt, one critically.

Part of the investigation is whether the light on top of that crane was working.

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