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."

FMI: www.swrt.com, www.prodrive.com