Pete Barnes, 50, died from multiple injuries after the helicopter he was flying hit a high-rise crane on The Tower at St George Wharf, Vauxhall, and crashed into Wandsworth Road last week.

Mr Barnes, a father of two from Berkshire, had been flying from Redhill Aerodrome in Surrey to Elstree in Hertfordshire, but was diverted to Battersea heliport due to bad weather, Southwark Coroner's Court heard. He was flying a twin-engine Agusta Westland 109 helicopter.

Police, the fire brigade and the air ambulance all attended the scene and Mr Barnes was pronounced dead by a doctor.

London Inner South Coroner Andrew Harris said he would review the case in three months, but did not set a date for a future hearing.

Pedestrian Matthew Wood, 39, from Sutton, Surrey, was also killed in the tragedy as he walked to work. The coroner did not set a date for the opening of the inquest into Mr Wood's death.