Essex Air Ambulance's big red bird has turned yellow.

The helicopter has just undergone a dramatic change of colour thanks to massive sponsorship by the Automobile Association.

Last July the AA came on board to enable the helicopter to operate seven days a week, instead of five, and last week it was repainted in its corporate colours.

Pilot Bob Brett said the colour change made no difference to its visibility, but the financial input from the AA meant that they were fully operational every day.

The air ambulance in its new yellow livery

Kent air ambulance hit power cables

The Kent Air Ambulance helicopter crash which killed the pilot and two paramedics crashed into power cables.

Essex Ambulance Service and Essex Police are waiting to see if they will be asked to fit safety equipment to their helicopters following the tragedy.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch report into the July 26, 1998 crash, states it was clear from an examination of the crash site and the wreckage that the accident occurred after the helicopter collided with an electric power cable near Rochester Airport.

The crew were returning from a road accident, at which they were eventually not needed, when the crash happened at 4.37pm.

A direct return flight to Rochester should have taken two minutes but the AIIB report states ''yet the helicopter was airborne for 12 minutes.''

Recordings of National Air Traffic Services radar at Debden, north of Stansted, tracked the helicopter which showed it was travelling in level flight.

A test run by AAIB a few days after the accident revealed the power lines could not be seen, even knowing the location.

The severed cable was replaced after the accident and conical spiral markers were fitted to it so that that could be more easily seen.

The report concludes that the possibility of a pre-accident problem could not be dismissed, although there was no evidence to suggest it because of the fire damage.

Safety recommendation from the AIIB to the Civil Aviation Authority include the fitting of flight recorders, fitting cable strike protection systems and when suitable equipment becomes available, fitting cable proximity warning systems.

Both Essex Ambulance Service and Essex Police will study the AIIB report and wait for the CAA recommendations.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.