The guests at Pete and Debbie’s wedding are not the only Emmerdale residents whose lives hang in the balance after the dramatic helicopter crash this week.

The crash is caused when Chrissie Sugden (Louise Marwood) sets fire to her husband Robert’s car in a row over his affair, causing a gas canister to explode, just as the helicopter passes overhead.

Emmerdale's Adam Barton is asleep in a car when the fire starts
Emmerdale’s Adam Barton is asleep in a car when the fire starts (ITV)

Unknown to the couple, Adam Barton (Adam Thomas) has been sleeping in a car in the scrapyard and he finds himself trapped in a burning car.

Emmerdale's Adam Barton is stuck in the burning car
Emmerdale’s Adam Barton is stuck in the burning car (ITV)

When the scrapyard explodes Adam is still fighting to get out of the car.

Moira Barton runs to the scene of the explosion where her son is trapped
Moira Barton runs to the scene of the explosion where her son is trapped (ITV)

His mother Moira (Natalie J Robb) fears the worst when she realises what has happened. But has Adam managed to get out alive?

Two policemen hold Moira back in Emmerdale
Two policemen hold Moira back (ITV)

Meanwhile, at the wedding the helicopter comes crashing through the roof of the village hall jeopardising the lives of everyone inside.

Bride and groom Debbie and Pete are hit by the debris in the Emmerdale helicopter crash
Bride and groom Debbie and Pete are hit by the debris in the Emmerdale helicopter crash (ITV)

The storyline has sparked some upset among the families of the Clutha Disaster victims, and a petition has been set up online, appealing to producer Kate Oates not to air the episodes on ITV this week.

Kate admitted they carefully considered the storyline in light of the 2013 Glasgow helicopter crash, when a police helicopter crashed into the Clutha Vaults pub in Scotland, killing 10 people, but decided the events were sufficiently different.

ITV Yorkshire/Emmerdale: Show some respect to the Clutha Disaster victims.

Over 800 people have already signed the petition on Change.org, calling the plotline “disrespectful and insensitive”.

The helicopter crashes into the roof of Emmerdale village hall (ITV)
The helicopter crashes into the roof of Emmerdale village hall (ITV)

Kate said: “It was something that we considered because obviously our intention is always to entertain people, to give them a good story, to thrill them, to upset them in certain kinds of ways sometimes, but it would never be our intention to mimic something like that. So we kept it very deliberately far apart. It’s not something we were concerned about because we made the decision very carefully.”