20th August 2008 - 00.15hrs
Car Crashes Over The Cliff At Tynemouth Longsands
HM Coastguard paged the Brigade after receiving a report from Northumbria Police that a car had gone over the cliffs at the south end of Tynemouth Longsands, landing 40 foot below in the old outdoor swimming pool. Brigade members arrived on scene and, along with Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue units and crew members from the North East Ambulance Service, quickly found that all four occupants of the car had miraculously survived without major injury. The car, a 'Nissan Note', had gone through the cliff barrier, flown some 15 foot across to another cliff bank, and then slid down the cliff side, overturning at least once, before coming to a rest in the old swimming pool. Brigade members remained on scene for 3 hours as a recovery truck arrived and skilfully removed the car from the beach.
The following set of photos show the damage caused to the car and will give
you a bit of an idea of how fortunate the occupants of the car have been to
be able to walk away from the scene. The images were taken by a Brigade member
and are not to be reused without permission.
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Position of the Nissan after it came
to a stop.
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Side-on view showing the severity
of the damage.
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View from the front of the car.
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Front view from different angle. |
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View from the Driver's seat.
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Captain Dave and Dan inspect the
route the car had taken.
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Clear marks on the grass bank.
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View from the road - where the barrier
tape is in several layers was the point of impact with the railings.
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Another view of the road showing
the bend in the road that may have led to the crash.
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This shows the area that the car
had 'flown' from hitting the railings to landing on the grass bank. The
faint white reflection is where the front number plate of the car came
to rest.
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Visible in this shot is the number
plate with the car in the back ground.
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Eventually the railings came to a
rest roughly 20 foot from where they had been.
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After 2 hours a recovery truck arrived.
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And with impressive ease the car
was 'gracefully' lifted out of the pool and onto the beach.
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With equal 'grace', the car was then
dragged along the beach and up the south ramp.
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If you are offered a Nissan Note
with 'slight' damage after 'coming together with cliff' I'd be very suspicious.
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The dangers of sleep deprivation
are demonstrated as Captain Michael gets a little over keen in sealing
off the missing barrier area with tape.
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But it keeps the area safe till sunrise.
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And with the coming of light it becomes
clearer the route the car has taken and the lucky escape the occupants
have had.
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The area the car 'flew' across is
also more visibile
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As is the damage to the railings.
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Taken from inside the old swimming
pool, this shows the route the car has taken down the bank.
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The Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade. Registered Charity Number 1093237
© T.V.L.B. 2010