A woman is in hospital after apparently attempting to commit suicide by driving her car into the Thames in Isleworth.
Chiswick lifeboat crews were called to the incident near the London Apprentice pub at 7.10pm on Monday evening.
Two brave anglers witnessed the blue Vauxhall Corsa fly into the river and dived in after it in an attempt to save the woman inside.
Police and ambulance crews arrived on the scene soon after the incident, and the female driver was taken to West Middlesex Hospital.
At the request of the police, lifeboat crew member Craig Burn entered the water to check there was no baby seat in the submerged vehicle.
Helmsman Paul Harrison said: "We are often called out to cars driven into the water accidentally or deliberately.
"It is always essential to check there is no one trapped and prevent the vehicle becoming a danger to navigation."
Once it was established that there was only one person in the car, the crew secured the vehicle to the embankment wall using a lifeboat line and The Port of London Authority was called in to assist in the removal of the car.
This is the second suspcted suicide attempt in the last few weeks, with rescue teams also being called to Strand-on-the-Green, to the east of Kew Bridge, on July 23.
Shocked Chiswick families and Saturday drinkers watched from the Bell and Crown pub as a man went into the water.
Witness Ruby Almeida wrote in a local forum: "The River Survey Boat happened to be in the area and bravely and ably prevented the awful and inevitable, which the man was seeking, from happening.
"When the River Rescue team arrived they took over and were able to get him to the pier near Kew Bridge, where police and paramedics were waiting.
"It really was a surreal scene, that of a man fighting hard, not for his life but for his demise, which stopped people who were enjoying the sunshine and the river, in their tracks.
"It left so many people in shock and no doubt many of us view our lives as that much more precious."
