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Rally champion Colin McRae dies with son in helicopter crash

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."

Fonte: Times

Morreu Colin McRae
ACIDENTE DE HELICÓPTERO VITIMA EX-CAMPEÃO DO MUNDO

O ex-campeão do Mundo de Ralis Colin McRae faleceu ontem na sequência da queda do helicóptero que o próprio tripulava.
De acordo com a edição online do “The Times”, a bordo do aparelho seguiam ainda mais três pessoas, uma delas filho do piloto escocês.

Num primeiro momento a polícia de Lanarshire – região onde ocorreu o acidente e local onde fica situada a propriedade de Colin McRae – informou que não haveria sobreviventes depois da queda do helicóptero, que se incendiou.

As autoridades remeteram para hoje a identificação das víttimas, mas o “The Times” avançou com a informação da morte de McRae. Aos 39 anos, o piloto tinha um título de campeão do Mundo de Ralis (1995) e 146 participações no Mundial.