Tribute Leader, Race Team Boss Escapes Close Call Following
Day
Former World Rally Champion Colin McRae was killed Saturday when
his Eurocopter AS350 helicopter went down about 200 yards from his
home in Lanarkshire, Scotland on landing.
McRae's five-year-old son Johnny, six-year-old Ben Porcelli and
37-year-old Graeme Duncan, a family friend, also perished in the
accident.
"We believe that the group were just returning from a visit to
the nearby village of Quarter around 1605 hours (1505 GMT)
(Saturday), when it appears that the helicopter got into difficulty
and crashed within the grounds of Mr. McRae's family home," said
Strathclyde Chief Superintendent Tim Love, according to Agence
France-Presse.
"Our officers are working closely with the air accident
investigation team who are presently at the scene. "Family liaison
officers have been appointed and are with the families to help them
through this distressing and difficult time."
According to the UK Telegraph, the accident occurred during poor
weather, including a low ceiling and rain, but witnesses are also
reporting "unusual noises" as the aircraft was apparently coming in
to land. The helo struck a group of trees.
Denis Lowry, a farmer who lives nearby, notified authorities
after watching the helicopter go down into a valley then smoke
start rising.
McRae's father, Jimmy McRae, a former rally champion as well,
said the helicopter was off its normal flight path for that
particular area.
"He's had a problem further back and he's obviously been trying
to clear the trees to get to the field," he said. "He would
normally be a mile, half a mile up in the top of the valley.
"If there's been a problem with the helicopter, or whatever,
we've got to find out what it is and stop this happening to another
family."
Then, after a day of
leading public tributes for McRae, chief executive of Prodrive,
Subaru's World Rally team operator, David Richards and his wife
barely escaped injury when their Eurocopter EC135 (type shown at
right) went down near North Weald airfield just north of London
Sunday, according to Reuters.
Richards ran the Subaru team when McRae became the first British
world rally champion in 1995.
"Something failed on the transmission system," said Richards.
"Because of what happened with Colin yesterday, we didn't want to
stay at Spa, we wanted to come back home early.
"We were nearing Stansted airport when we heard this bang at the
back of the aircraft. I was talking to the control at Stansted at
the time, so I immediately gave them a May Day call, and the rescue
crew came within minutes.
"Then, everything failed but I managed to bring it down to the
ground, and it fell on its side."
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