BACK in 2008, Pete Barnes was just starting his job as a pilot with the Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance.
He had already reached the top of his profession, having flown air ambulances in other areas and been a stunt pilot on Bond movies.
But he was still keen to help those in difficulties.
He said at the time: "I've flown celebrities, such as Lewis Hamilton, and been in films Casino Royale, Die Another Day and Tomb Raider 2.
"But flying the air ambulance means I can put my skills to use saving lives."
Mr Barnes, 50, who grew up in Woodthorpe but had moved to Berkshire, died yesterday when his helicopter crashed in central London.
In a wide-ranging career spanning 18 years, he had amassed about 9,000 hours of flying time. He is thought to have still had family in Nottingham.
MP for Nottingham East Chris Leslie said: "It's certainly a tragedy.
"It's a real loss for such an experienced pilot to be involved in such a high-profile accident.
"I hope we can get to the bottom of the causes of this. Given the skill and capability of Mr Barnes, there might be more to this than simply a pilot error. My thoughts at this difficult time are with his family in Nottingham."
Mr Barnes was working as a freelance pilot for RotorMotion, a company that counts among its clients the Prince of Wales, Prime Minister David Cameron, former PM Tony Blair and the Dalai Lama.
It is understood the Augusta Westland 109 Power eight-seater aircraft was owned by Cornwall-based Castle Air but was leased to RotorMotion, which is based at Redhill Aerodrome.
Staff at the aerodrome confirmed it left the site at 7.35am in low cloud cover and poor visibility, while the owner of London Heliport said Mr Barnes requested to land at one of its sites via Heathrow air traffic control. But the heliport never established contact with the pilot before the crash into a crane on top of The Tower in St George Wharf.
Witnesses described hearing a loud explosion as debris scattered across the sky and the helicopter plummeted to the ground.
London Ambulance Service confirmed two people died and 12 were injured.
Operations manager Pauline Cranmer said: "The second fatality was not in the building. It was in close proximity to the helicopter.
"There were a number of injuries that would potentially be consistent with being hit by debris."
Julian Firth, an investigator with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, said the wreckage would be taken to its site at Farnborough, Hampshire.
