Colin McRae's helicopter crashes [UPDATE: Colin killed, RIP]

[avanti]

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/...,00.html?f=rss

A helicopter that crashed in rural Scotland today was registered to rally driver Colin McRae, it has been revealed.
Strathclyde Police said there were no survivors after the aircraft came down near Lanark this afternoon.

It is not known whether the former world rally champion, who has a pilot's licence, was on board.

Police have said extensive damage was done to the twin squirrel helicopter and they were not immediately able to confirm how many people had been travelling in the craft.

There will be no formal identification of any victims this evening.

The air accident investigation team are en route to establish the cause of the crash.

The Scottish Ambulance Service confirmed that its own helicopter was despatched to the scene along with three ambulance crews and units from Strathclyde Fire Brigade.

Sky Correspondent James Matthews said: "My understanding is that the helicopter involved is registered to Colin McRae, the former world rally champion former world rally champion.

"He lives on an estate where this crash took place, the Jervis Wood estate just outside Lanark in the central belt of Scotland.

"All police will say it that they are in touch with the family to try to establish the identity of those on board the helicopter."

A rally driver is not worth more than a "normal" person, but I pray to god that Colin wasn't in the chopper!

[ESPNSTI]

[anti-net]

According to BBC, two people dead - I so hope Colin isn't on that chopper!!

[the Interceptor]

I just read he was, he's dead!

http://www.motorsport-total.com/rall..._07091501.html

[mgkdk]

[bartboy9891]

wow, that's such a shock. He was only 39.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

RIP.

[Loz]

Terrible shame... RIP.

[avanti]

HOLD ON

Nothing has been confirmed, that german article was published over 1 hour ago. If he was dead it would certainly have been published other places too.

[American TG Man]

Rest in Peace, Colin.

[Loz]

I'm just looking on Wikipedia (Not the best source, i know). Someone edited his article confirming he had been killed, but it has now just been restored. If he did die, RIP.

[D-Fence]

Rest in Peace, Colin.

He was one of the really big ones

According to our IRC:

[22:21] <don> I live in lanark and was just told on the phone that it was colin, his son, a friend and his 1 year old child

[No Boss]

Nothing reported on his website yet... and,

[22:21] <don> I live in lanark and was just told on the phone that it was colin, his son, a friend and his 1 year old child

Didn't they say only two people were on board?

[D-Fence]

<don> Initial reports are confirming that Colin was on board at the time. This has now been confirmed to press by his Wife Alison McRae

They said AT LEAST 2, the helicopter burned down, they didn´t even identify it at first..

[Loz]

Wonder what disrespectful bastard did this...

[No Boss]

Originally Posted by D-Fence

They said AT LEAST 2, the helicopter burned down, they didn´t even identify it at first..

Gotcha. Figured in helicopter crashes there aren't very discernible bits lying all around.

Well, here's to the hope of it not being him.

[avanti]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle2461339.ece

THE former rally driving champion Colin McRae was killed and his five year-old son feared dead in a helicopter crash yesterday afternoon. The aircraft came down in Jerviswood, Lanarkshire, half a mile from the family's home and burst into flames just after 4pm.

Jean-Eric Freudiger, McRae's agent, said the 39-year-old driver had been piloting the helicopter himself. Also on board were believed to be his son Johnny, another adult and another child. Police said there were no survivors.

McRae's wife Alison and their daughter Hollie, 9, were not on board, friends said.

McRae became Britain's first World Rally champion in 1995. He was one of the country's most successful sportsmen, achieving 25 wins in World Rally events and 42 podium places. He was a flamboyant driver, inspiring one the world's best-selling computer rally games.

The helicopter came down within half a mile of McRae's home, Jervis House, a 16th-century tower house, which has an adjacent helipad. The weather had been overcast, with a light breeze, but visibility was good.

Strathclyde police said the extent of the fire damage was making identification a problem.

McRae's wife, a childhood sweetheart and his former co-driver, was taken back to the house under police escort shortly after 6pm. She looked calm, but neighbours gathering outside the house looked shaken with grief.

McRae's friend the rally journalist Jeremy Hart who flew with the champion several times described him as a "very good, very measured pilot whose natural ability with machinery was second to none". "Colin regularly flew all over the UK and into Europe," said Hart. "He knew the terrain and conditions at Jerviswood very well. It was the place he flew into most regularly.

"As a driver Colin was misunderstood slightly as being reckless but everything you saw with him came from pure raw talent as opposed to being learnt. He was the Michael Schumacher of rally driving.

"It's so ironic that he should die in a helicopter crash when he had competed and had brushed with death so many times as a rally driver."

Rest in peace Colin, you will always be remembered as one of the best!

[GraemeH]

A couple of articles are suggesting it was Colin, his son, Colin's friend and his son.

Pretty awful. I heard about the crash on the news maybe 4 hours ago, but didn't hear about Colin until 10 minutes ago.

[zenkidori]

[American TG Man]

Edit: Changing the message since it's been confirmed that he passed away. RIP.