If you’ve read today’s newspapers you’re probably aware that James May has had a spot of bother with an airship.
The good news is that our brave hero has emerged from the slightly scratched wreckage UNHARMED.
After PLUMMETING to the ground at a MASSIVE two miles an hour, May’s craft SLAMMED into a small bush and then just sort of STOPPED. Thankfully, trained rescue staff were on the scene in seconds to intercept James as he stepped out of the airship and were able to administer a much needed flask of TEA and some NICE BISCUITS.
May has since returned home for a SIT DOWN and some light piano practise, after which he is reported to be “very well, thank you for asking”.
For more details of this quite near-death experience you’ll have to tune in to the new series, coming to your television later this year.
Photo: Justin Leighton

Im glad he’s ok.
thank God he’s not hurt…first comment!
gaahhddd sorry second comment only..sorry..can’t wait for the next series!!
i’ve heard that some bunnies were a bit shocked for a bit then went bak to eating grass… And that some cars on a road about 1/2 miles from the ‘crash’ site might have seen something orange but it was so far from the road that there thought it was a large orange…
Now he and Hammond have both had lucky escapes from horrific, high-speed and violent accidents.
For the love of sanity, get this show pulled from the air before someone gets hurt.
I think it was a “oh cock” moment from James
Im so glad James May is okay.
) lol.
Bless him.. he had to be the one having the ’slow’ crash
Aww, he’s the best.
Classic TG stunt…ambitious but rubbish lol
whta a comment by MARK ” get show pulled ” are you a daily mail reader and if you dont like the thing TG does why are you on this website ??
this show is best thing on TV i Just wish with all the money the BBC makes from selling TG around the world they would make more episodes
Hope his hair survived in tact, it would take the TG makeup team at least 5 seconds to re-do.
If its was such a small bump it means the Caravan survived.
Mr May you have failed and are guilty of letting a caravan live.
@simon: do you think that 5.Mark was being just a little tiny wee bit sarcastic and that maybe youve taken things a eeny weeny bit too far?
glad he’s been given a clean bill of health though.
definitely lookin forward to the new series in HD
lol nice piece of sarchasm.
Captain Slow through and through…He couldnt even crash fast
Does anyone know when the next series is?
ahh man, why didnt he die, then maybe i could of had his “job of a life time”… only joking glad to hear hes fine!
At least the Hammond crashes properly lol
Play safe James……..
“For the love of sanity, get this show PULLED FROM THE AIR before someone gets hurt.”
Nice choice of words.
Wait until the environmentalists hear he hit a small bush, there’ll be outrage i tells ya.
Was it the Sun or the Mirror who wrote this article, with all the CAPS everywhere?
ahahahaaa! Nice one.
glad hes ok, love that fact he needed a cuppa tea after!
one word – HARDCORE!
phew!..better fly next time..
What a legend James May is:
“Everything is going swimmingly… nice and slow in this airhip… meandering through the trees…. Oh Cock…. trees…”
You guys are brilliant!
aaah, getting even further away from reviewing cars for the new series as the last one then?
good stuff.
(-_-)
lmao! good one.. James may is a legend and so is Hamster, and so is Jez xD
Guiness World Record for the slowest ever crash?
Its kinda awesome that he crashed … good for him was that hes Captain Slow and not Captain fast… anyways great that hes alive =D
lol! i can’t stop laughing…you guys rock!
I heard about it last night and read the paper today – glad he is alright. Didn’t expect him to be involved, though. Can’t wait for series 14, and Top Gear Live
ahahahahah ahh well thats james for you hope hes ok
Was the caravan that saved him!
Glad Hes ok Too
Captain Slow by name, Captain Slow by nature! lol
“oh cock !!”
LMAO
It’s ‘practice’ not ‘practise’ – in this context it’s a noun not a verb… *wanders off muttering pedantically*
A Captain Slow Crash, excellent! Glad he’s ok
)
We demand a health and safety investigation followed by left wing berating of Jezza’s hairline!
NICE biscuits is he mad.
James even crashes in slow mo. i hope he better a flying his plane!
:~)
Glad him and all the crew aboard were okay. Just pisses me off that the press use it as an excuse to mention Richard’s crash >_<
glad his safe. top gear will be different without captain slow. REALLY CAN’T WAIT FOR SERIES 14.
Reminds me of the Mr Burns plane crash! Anyway any landing you walk away from is “A landing!” Though me thinks if he came in upside down? how far and long would it of bounced?!?!?
Only james would crash that slow, he was probably quaffing a glass of wine when it happened, Now all we need is jezza do something completely stupid…..no hang on, thats what he does anyway !! cant wait for the next series.
Oh, the humanity!
Seriously, glad you’re okay, Captain. Rest up for the new season; we love you over here in the U.S. Even though we’re fat, ugly, make bad cars, and marry our brothers.
2mph? To Capt slow that’s a traumatic high speed accident!
Best he has a nice slice of cake with that soothing cuppa.
omg jame lol loony
omg james lol loony
If thats not proof that caravans are dangerous and should be banned I dont know what is.
I guess missing the wicket by that much we should expect a call up for England’s one day team he’d fit right in.
I expect James was a little shaken but not srirred LOL. So pleased he is safe & well. He’s precious don’t you Know. Am looking forward to this particular episode now in the knowlege that Mr May is well.
i can imagine what he was saying on the way down … ‘OH COCK’
What a cafuffle!
Glad you’re ok james, only you could crash in slow motion
much love
Janey
XXXXX
I thought all his pianos got destroyed?
Ayane approves of his doku styled dojo
even with something that big 2 miles an hour is still dangerous, glad James is ok
Captain Slow living up to his name then!!
Glad you are OK, Mr May. Big Love To You! XX <3 XX
I can only hope that James was wearing his high-vi jacket at the time.
A caravan airship? oh this is going to be a good one!
Classic TG-and yes we need more series-i hate waiting for the new ones to start
Captain slow to the rescue eh! What caravan was it? Wish I was about to do a bit of caravan spotting. James will never ever live this down but I cant imagine Hamster or Jezza will mention it……much!!!
Second comment – Top gear should be on all year round like casualty or Holby City, they should let the people who pay for the show (us) decide whats on and when!! TG forever, keep up the good work
awesome. wish we read national news. should b on bbc news. brillo glad 2 hear jm is OK,
NICE biscuits? Garibaldis are much better. Although not if you’re a dunker – they take too long to go soft. Hey ho.
This is just hilarious. What is even more funny, are all the people coming out with their concerns for his well-being. A 2 mph crash in an air ship isn’t exactly going to give you a skull fracture.
Sooooo glad that captain slow is ok n well xxx love ya show cant wait for new series and im still waitin for my tickets lol xxxx
ha ha ha good one tg show the newspapers just how sh*t they are!
I accidentally held up an orange Lambo V16 MUR while cycling through Cambridge on the day of the airship disaster. Was it R Hammond on his way to the rendezvous I wonder? Maybe I’ll find out by seeing him swear at me in the new series…
Im glad your ok Captain Slow, hope you didn´t rouin your hair due.
Thank GOD he’s OK! But the irony about crashing slowly … slow by name, slow by nature?
hey guys… i always enjoy watching your show…
come to mexico! you´re going to have too much fun here…
YYYAAAAAAAYYYY FIRST COMMENT!!!!! freaks.
i’m glad that james is ok from what happend
and i cant wait until this series coming up .
2 MILES AN HOUR!!!
That would have killed anyone, but James May with his balls of steel, somehow made it!!!
Well done James
Thank heavens our dear James is ok ~ so who is next? Jeremy?
NICE Biscuts? That’s a shame, considering their Britcar racer was advertising the competition, ARSE Biscuts.
OH COCK!
lmao I can just imagine what he said as it happened “oh cock”
sounds very topgear…im looking forward to the new series
He’s doing better than Clarkson
so glad that he`s ok!I hope that cup of tea works.(who may want a cup of tea after a crash?????)I think that airship was too fast for Capiatn Slow!
Well as long as the biscuits are nice then everythings ok
You daft sod…
Glad you escaped unharmed and unhurt. However I sincerely hope the caravan was very harmed and very hurt indeed…
Someone above made a comment about the two miles an hour and that not being enough speed to hurt anyone.
Perhaps.
However, some sort of chemical was providing the inflation for the “balloon” part of the airship, and that could have caused a few problems. A gentle bump, a spark, and now you’ve got real troubles.
Glad everyone is okay. James, perhaps you should go back to planes.
and by the way. Here in the U.S., we do not marry our brothers. That is just wrong. There are one or two people who marry their cousins, but only because they can’t keep track ofthe family tree….
Three cheers for Captain Slow!!!what a guy!!
2mph you say …. as fast as he’s ever been .. lol
Hamster crashed fast and Captain Slow crashed not nearly as fast, but a hero nevertheless.
My turn to be a dick. That’s a blimp. Airships have rigid structures around a series of ballones. Blimps don’t. Glad I got that off my chest.
For the cricketers, waiting for James to arrive must have been almost as boring as the cricket itself, but not quite.
Good to hear that James is unhurt.
In Belgium the headlines scream : ‘TG Blimp crashes. Co-presentor narrowly escapes death!’
Great. Now no article will ever appear without mentioning his crash EVER AGAIN.
*snicker*
Seriously, glad it all turned out alright.
ha ha ha
Looks like an amazing episode.. can’t wait for november!
Gran Turismo 5 AND TG, Oh my god i love it!
Oh forgot to mention, good that he’s not hurt
Think he is the funniest TG presenter!:D James is best!
that sounds very action packed all at a speed of 2mph its madnees. slow down try 3mph
Glad James is ok. Nothing like a good old cuppa and NICE biccie though. I was really surprised when I read what actually happened because the first thing I read was that he’d had an escape, so I thought it was the media doing their usual over something small. Glad everything ended out ok for James and the crew. Anyway roll on the new series.
He is a wally but i hope he’s ok
glad james is ok. where would we be without cpt. slow??
plummeting at TWO miles an hour must have been terrifying
(not)
So he hit Cambridgeshire at 2mph – 266mph slower than Hammond hit Yorkshire. Ban Top Gear, it’s dangerous and will encourage people to hurl themselves at high speed into various counties.
Andy Wilman: You want to pilot an airship on the show?
James: Yes, why not, there’s nothing that could possibly go wrong with that!
Andy: Jolly good show old chap (or words to that effect)
*ominous music*
Carry on!
Good ol’ captain slow. thank god it was only 2mph.
really glad he is ok. we dont want to nearly loose another top gear presenter thankyou very much. touch wood jeremy doesnt have a big or highly publiscised crash
i am suprised that the traffic wombles never closed all the m6 for 3 hours for that crash!!! even if it happened in spain!
Glad your all okay James
Roll on the new series
“”# nick1982 said…
Thursday October 1, 2009 at 1:13 pm Link to comment Report comment
If its was such a small bump it means the Caravan survived.
Mr May you have failed and are guilty of letting a caravan live.”"
Exactly – he should be sent back out and told to try harder – “With God’s help [he]..’ll conquer this terrible affliction (caravans)”
I can imagine the comments from Clarkson and Hammond.
Nutter!
Ehhhh lad what are you like!.
That’s one caravan that won’t be making the trip to MPH this year then?
Just glad you will and your not hurt.
Good to know James is okay. Can’t wait to this in the new series
any word on a date for the new series launch ?? TG ??? Geeks ???? cheers
Reminds me of this from original amphibious cars:
JC: James – watch out for the trees!
JM: (sarcastically) Trees…trees…
JC: (more urgently) Trees, James, trees!!
JM: Uh oh….trees!
Glad you’re OK, Cap’n.
And boys, can you stop scaring us like this? Thanks.
now captain slow needs to crash going backwards..!
James has done more than the rest of the cast.
He’s done 250mph in a Veryon, he has a flying permit, he’s lived in a lego house, he’s been in a USAF U-2, he’s done all the races with Top Gear, he’s test driven supercars, and he has his own tv specials.
Time to write a book, eh?
Well, nothing like a nice cup of hot tea and some biscuits to calm the nerves.. after such a terrifying ‘experience’… Perhaps CPT Slow would consider, erm… slowing down?
=D
What a great idea – all cricket pitches should be converted to touring caravan parks, whether the vans are dropped by airship or not.
if tht was hammond therd be a big fuss over it, clarkson, no one would care (i would) and may, not much been said.
our top gear gods need protecting
Whenever Richard or Jeremey gets into a spot of bother, they ALWAYS get hurt, dis james indestructible by his hair or something?????
Answer!!!
James, I know planes give way to gliders and gliders give way to ballons….what the hell were you giving way to
Keep up the excellent work team! Cant wait for the new series to begin
asking for a cupo classic only in Britain !! =) though glad james is ok
Congrats to Captain Slow for bein a complete and utter cock.
Crashing in style i see, what kind of caravan was it a Monza or a Abbey GT??
Yeh Simon No. 9 forgot to put 50p in his sarcasm meter, I love topgear. Only reposted to detail the conversation where I tried to explain this to my friend.
“Did you hear about James May crashing a caravan?”
“No, what did he hit?”
“A tree on a cricket pitch”
“Why did he have a caravan on a cricket field?”
“He was trying to land it”
“He was doing a stunt jump?”
“Nononono, he was flying the caravan and crashed it into a cricket field”
“Wha… Bu… Huh!?”
Wow, even Falling he is Captain Slow…
fuf! it is good that he is ok. A very interesting kind of transport i must admit. a very unusual one for me.
Hilarious and well written post, the perefct way to stick it to a tabloid…
Yay, glad to hear he’s fine. Two miles/hour isn’t fast, not even for our Captain Slow.
This is really a stupid action, for someone who is very technical and even has a flying license
This balloon is not controllable and you can only fall and rise with a balloon
a simply sidewind is enough for the balloon to keep out of control, so it happened
wow how on earth did he survive that crash at 2mph i mean really thats the fastest speed he has ever gone! glad ur alreet! rule James May!
http://www.sesliturkey.co m seslisohbet voice schat
Haha… WAIT IS HE OKAY!?
I hope James May is ok. Looking forward to seeing the new series of top gear as I always do. I watch it with my dad when ever it is on. After school at 4:00pm I watch it on Dave.
All the best to the top gear presenters and team.
oh no the cock moblie has plumeted done to earth from an air ship hes is not hurt but the speed was quite incredible 2MPH omfg how on earth did he surive(i have a limp and move faster than that for god sake
but aleast hes ok
stiggy out………………………………………………………… ………………………
only on top gear would you find a caravan suspended from an airship…epic cant wait for the new series, from the looks of this it should be hilarious
great news – i can’t imagine the show without you!!! all the best james!
whats with the capital words?
ha only Capt. Slow could crash a blimp
Can’t wait for the EPISODE to be on my TV some time this WINTER it will be AWESOME.
I reckon james is the nly person who could crash a blimp
2 miles an hour? He’s captain slow indeed.
Had me scared for a moment! Be more careful James!!
Damn trees…:P
Thats the fastest he has ever been. Must have been a thrill for him!
#86 nHeroGo “Airships have rigid structures around a series of ballones.”
Nice to know that the ‘I-can’t-believe-it’s-not -meat’ industry will be up and running for a while…
Sounds all a bit Baloney to me
Only on Top Gear…
Side note… #65, whether it was or wasn’t, I have noticed the predilection of the TG team giving Hammond cars in shades of orange to test over the years… interesting to note that orange is the most neurological stimulating colour around…
another missed ‘ANYWAY’ Moment…
Tg please can you stop even giving airtime to the complainers..in fact print out all the emails you recive that complain and invite the authors to view them, at a designated place….top of a volcano, bottom of the sea, swansea or anwhere else thats really unpleasent place to be..Keep up the c0cking around, irrelevent remarks, and non pc tv that we all love……
oh and glad to see james is ok……
wants to be hitla bombing with zeplens
hahaha that made me laugh
glad james is unscathed and the tea helped :d always works a wonder
Excellent take on the stupid “oh no a mildly famous person has a mildly bad accident, lets waste precious airwaves to tell those lame enough to care” culture, and James is the sort of chap who would hop off the Hindenburg and poke around looking for a muffin, brilliant.
Shame about the blimp James! Glad you are OK!
im glad he is ok from his very fast experience
I’m glad Mr. May is ok after that blimp accident. I wonder what it was used for…perhaps in a race? We’ll all have to tune in to find out.
Glad to hear your well James!!!!
As American Stig has mentioned…this was from a race between James and Richard. Richard was in the Lamborghini,(I believe) but due to the weather, I believe it could not be re-filmed. Hopefully this makes it into the Outtakes.
Ambitious but rubbish.
at least he is alright!!!
he probably went the wrong way!!! lol
capten slow crashes?! not an suprise really.
cooooooool cant wait 2 see that! good hes okay. woudnt really be the same without him
I agree with poster 108 WAT…
Any chance of that book then James? It would be a best seller.
James May is like a tank
slow and steady but very durable
good thing he is captin slow
good thing he’s ok cause all 3 presenters all have rolls which when put together makes top gear so great and successful!
it was so sick
thank god hes ok that looked a bad crash but it will look good on the tv later next month
Lucky his nickanme Captain Slow came true and landed quite softly
He’s done the stunt again up the road from me and it all went without a hitch – but only just!!!
what we’re all forgetting is that James has an alter ego as we found out when the lads went up against the Germans…
“some say that he has a Carbon Fibre skeleton, and that if the crash had been serrious he would have come back to life in the shower, at Jeremy’s house, with a strange Veyron shaped nipple…All we know is that’s we’re glad he’s ok”
Seems there was another ‘oh c*ck’ moment: http://www.edp24.co.uk/co ntent/edp24/default/story .aspx?brand=EDPOnline&cat egory=News&tBrand=EDPOnli ne&tCategory=xDefault&ite mid=NOED06%20Oct%202009%2 016%3A20%3A41%3A830
It’ll be the year 2025 by the time that airs on Belgian television.. we’re halfway through season 7 here, currently (-_-)
Anyway, glad he’s ok. Really.
James May rules!
i was woken one morning to look out my window to see a helicopter hovering nearby for about 30 minutes, bearing in mind this was 7.30 in the morning i thought ‘what a f&^%!’ but then this orange and blue thing emerged from the top of the houses opposite. it went up and very quickly went down again! and that apparently was james may! the joys of living in bedfordshire! the first i knew about TG involvement was in the papers two days later.
Pleeease tell me James said oh cock as he stepped from the flaming wreckage…that would be soo funny
In top gear episode where you were in finland, you asked from mika häkkinen about sisu, he didnt tell it right
this video tells what is finnish sisu
http://www.youtube.com/wa tch?v=8xuv9RVss_Y
I think you need someone to translate it for you…
With no better place available to park this: James, I saw your Airfix episode yesterday and I loved it.
LOL!!!:):):)
Look! Yay! LOL LOL LOL !!!!!:):):):)evo x evo x evo x evo x evo x evo x evo x evo x evo x evo x evo x rules!!!
Massive 2 miles an hour!!! WOW
Overall I enjoyed the first show, but to be honest I think this episode is only about average compared to the previous shows. I like the guest part and James comparing the Merc and BMW. But the road trip is a bit too long and lack of excitement(except the last 3 minutes).
mmm tea and biscuits
Been loving James May’s toy stories – it’s a great show
i hope his hair is ok……….how that happend lol…..james has been co-pilot in a u2 at the edje of our atmosphere…and he is a registered pilot…..he is a bit experienced….damn ballons are much more difficult to drive that it seem to be….especially on landing….im glad that “oh cock man” james is ok!!
James,
You really must be more careful. Did your thermos survive the impact???
Glad hes ok xx hes a cutie x
Did he get in any sort of trouble over the whole airport incident?
If James wants to have a shot in my 3 wheeled plane, or any of my other toys, he’s quite welcome. when he comes to New Zealand check out the following
Oh, The Mini Pick Ups done, I thought it would be just the thing for going to the shops, but I was wrong! it’s bleeding Mental. second gears like something from the Bad Lands. it get to 8000 rpm then it feels like someones pushing you from behind! It would be great for a bad timekeeper of someone who is always in a hurry or runnig late. I have started to run it in ‘C’ mode to try and calm it down when on the road. On the track ‘A’ mode ….Hayabusa Honking…
one for the road?
james “captain slow” may is the olny person who could manage to have a SLOW crash
i cant belive he managed not to get lost
yaya captian slow
Oh,he’s alright. Pheew. Top Gear wouldn’t be the same without Captain Slow!
James May!
When I saw what looked like a tic sized camper glued to the bottom of an orange blimp I almost died laughing. I can’t wait to see that episode.
(sarcastically) Woow. 2 miles an hour.
Slowest crash in the world. An average slow crash is caused by a car going in 10 mph. An average crash would be at 30 mph. A Stig-level crash is above 120 mph, as he proved once driving a Koneigsegg CCX.