Couple ‘furious’ after Coastguard helicopter taking off from hospital destroys their garden 

A retired Royal Navy engineer and his magistrate wife are ‘furious’ after an emergency services helicopter blew down their garden wall.

Stuart and Cassie Ellins were left distraught after their back garden was ‘turned upside-down’ by the downdraft of the Coastguard aircraft launching from the nearby helipad.

An investigation has now been launched and other residents on the street – where average house prices are £450,000 – say ‘serious questions need to be answered.’

Mr and Mrs Ellins’ are fearful for their own safety and feel ‘sick’ when they think about what might have happened if one of their grandchildren had been in the garden at the time.

Mr Ellis (pictured standing among the ruins of his garden) is furious that the helicopter’s gusts wrecked his property 

Pictured: The back garden in Portsmouth, where a retired Navy engineer was left shuddering at the thought of what would have happened has grandchildren been in the space at the time

Pictured: The back garden in Portsmouth, where a retired Navy engineer was left shuddering at the thought of what would have happened has grandchildren been in the space at the time

A map showing the distance between the hospital helipad and the couple's road in Portsmouth

A map showing the distance between the hospital helipad and the couple’s road in Portsmouth

Gusts from the eight-tonne AW189 helicopter’s rotors tore down the 6ft brick pillars and panels of their wall and sent them crashing through their decking.

Now the couple face a bill of thousands of pounds to repair the damage, which also saw a Sky satellite dish dislodged from their roof.

It comes after they were left with £5,000 worth of damage when the same helicopter landed at the Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, Hampshire, in 2017.

The hospital helipad sits a mere 65m from the closest residential properties. Mrs Ellins, a magistrate and retired academy principal, said the accident sounded ‘like an explosion’ going off behind their home.

She said: ‘When I saw the damage I felt sick, upset and angry, but I felt relieved because we could’ve been out there.

‘It’s only by good fortune that one of us, one of our grandchildren or one of our dogs haven’t been killed.

‘I’m just worried unless we make a noise about this they will continue to do what they’re doing and someone will end up dead.’

Mr Ellins, 69, a retired Royal Navy marine engineer, said: ‘When I heard the bang I knew exactly what had happened and, having seen it before, shocked is not the word I would use – I’m furious.

Panels of fencing were left strewn across the back garden in Portsmouth, where Mr and Mrs Ellis have been left distraught

Panels of fencing were left strewn across the back garden in Portsmouth, where Mr and Mrs Ellis have been left distraught 

‘Had we been out there we could’ve been knocked off our feet. We could’ve been severely injured or we could’ve been killed.’

The now-defunct facilities manager Carillion commissioned a report into the hospital’s helipad after the destruction wreaked at the Ellins’ home in 2017.

It recommended pilots landing at the hospital alter their approach and take-off paths to avoid downdraft and noise ‘if operationally practical’.

The latest accident has sparked anger among local residents who doubt whether Coastguard pilots are following those instructions.

Retired shipwright and neighbour, Brian Hooper, 72, said he was ‘blown off his feet’ as the helicopter flew ‘really low’ over the quiet residential street.

He said: ‘As the helicopter appeared a great big umbrella from Stuart’s neighbour’s flew over my head and landed in the middle of the road.

‘When I turned round it lifted me off my feet – I would say two to three feet – and threw me down on my hip. It frightened me to death.

‘This thing is massive and it’s coming in over the roofs of all the houses in the area. Serious questions need to be answered.’

A Coast Guard spokesman said: ‘At around 3pm on Thursday, December 5, the HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter from Lee-on-the-Solent flew to Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, assisting the ambulance service in a patient transfer from the Isle of Wight.

‘HM Coastguard have been made aware that some damage was caused to a property, close to Queen Alexandra Hospital, as the helicopter arrived and landed, and we are looking into this incident.’

The AgustaWestland AW189 helicopter is a twin-engined helicopter with a top speed of 194 miles per hour and a range of more than 500 miles. The £20 million aircraft is commonly used by coastguards around the country