Kusch Posted September 16, 2007 Posted September 16, 2007 World rally star Colin McRae and his young son were feared dead after his helicopter crashed and exploded near his Scottish home. The 39-year-old driver was thought to be at the controls of the French-built Squirrel helicopter with his son Johnny, five, as a passenger when it crashed a mile from the family farm in Lanarkshire just after 4pm. Police confirmed that at least one person had died but said the helicopter was so badly damaged by fire that they were not immediately able to confirm how many people were on board. The ambulance service said they had not been asked to attend to any casualties and had been asked to stand down soon after the crash. Sources close to the family said they believed Colin and his son had both died. McRae, the 1995 world rally champion who became known to millions after lending his name to a top-selling series of computer games, is a qualified pilot and regularly flew the helicopter from his home, Jerviswood Farm, just outside the town of Lanark. It is believed he was on his way to Glasgow when the helicopter came down. Mr McRae is married to Alison and is also father to eight-year-old Hollie. It is understood Mrs McRae – his childhood sweetheart and co-driver in the early days of his career – was away horse-riding at the time of the tragedy and only learned of the news when she returned home at 6.30pm. Scroll down to watch Colin McRae in action Mr McRae was born in Lanark but moved to Monaco in 1995. However, he had recently been spending more time in Scotland to raise his young family. Strathclyde Police said they received an emergency call at 4.10pm to say a helicopter had come down in a rural wooded area east of the A73 at Lanark, close to the River Clyde. A spokesman said: "There is believed to be at least one confirmed fatality, the pilot. An air accident investigation team is on its way but we do not think we will immediately be able to establish how many people were on board or how many bodies there actually are because of the extensive fire damage. "It could be some time before official identifications are made." Police cordoned off the quiet country lane leading to Mr McRae's farmhouse in the hours after the accident to protect the family's privacy. The driver's aunt collapsed at the cordon after hearing of the accident. One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: "It is just an awful tragedy. "Colin was a devoted dad and a real family man. He came back to Scotland to give his son and daughter the stability of a Scottish upbringing. "He doted on both his kids and his death will be a real blow to a lot of people. "He is really going to be missed. Our thoughts go out to his family." Mr McRae was regarded as Britian's most successful rally driver of his generation, earning an estimated £3.5 million a year under his contract with Ford. He started off in the family heating and plumbing business and, despite becoming his global success, used to joke that he still knew enough about the trade to earn a living should his dream career ever end. The son of five-times British Rally Champion, Jimmy McRae, Colin started his career in 1986, when he drove a Talbot Sunbeam. His first outright rally victory came in 1988 at the Tweedies Rally near Dumfries. He won the world driver's title in 1995, was championship runner-up in 1996, 1997 and 2001, and came third in 2003. He was awarded the MBE by the Queen in 1996. :( :( :( Give me "flying telephone pole" (SA-2)!
Kifaru Posted September 16, 2007 Posted September 16, 2007 very sad news :( [sIGPIC]http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/4178/vaafbannerum6copyyj2.gif[/sIGPIC]
Yeniceri Posted September 16, 2007 Posted September 16, 2007 R.I.P. [sIGPIC]http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa200/misikci/41-imza-1.jpg[/sIGPIC] "To infinity...and beyond!.." SIM-MOD Modeler TURK!
Shaman Posted September 16, 2007 Posted September 16, 2007 Oh no :noexpression: 51PVO Founding member (DEC2007-) 100KIAP Founding member (DEC2018-) :: Shaman aka [100☭] Shamansky tail# 44 or 444 [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] 100KIAP Regiment Early Warning & Control officer
Ice Posted September 16, 2007 Posted September 16, 2007 RIP condolences to the McCrae family and friends.
sp0nge Posted September 16, 2007 Posted September 16, 2007 What can we say?... R.I.P Condolences to their family and friends... :cry: Is breaking the laws of gravity illegal? [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
VMFA117_Poko Posted September 16, 2007 Posted September 16, 2007 Oh no! Very very sad :(. Rest in Peace
Scart Posted September 16, 2007 Posted September 16, 2007 great man, great pilot... R.I.P.:( [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] летаю на заказ, дорого... "The FlankerForce"© -=приостановлено=- Лучшее средство завоевания господства в воздухе - танк посередине ВПП © не установлено АХТУНГ! эксперды атакуют! Только отсутствие разведанных запасов нефти в Антарктиде, удерживает пингвинов от демократии.
Fjordmonkey Posted September 16, 2007 Posted September 16, 2007 Yet another proof that the good die young and that the evil ones seem to live on forever... Condolances to friends and family :( Regards Fjordmonkey Clustermunitions is just another way of saying that you don't like someone. I used to like people, then people ruined that for me.
ED Team Glowing_Amraam Posted September 16, 2007 ED Team Posted September 16, 2007 Oh man.... R.I.P Colin ! You're name will never be forgotten. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgJRhtnqA-67pKmQ3A2GsgA ED youtube channel https://www.facebook.com/glowingamraam My facebook page
JaNk0 Posted September 16, 2007 Posted September 16, 2007 Damn, i remembered his races...what a driver! R.I.P [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
rattler Posted September 16, 2007 Posted September 16, 2007 My simpathy to family and friends!! Words can't describe the lose of two fine people. Extremely sad!!
Fox511 Posted September 16, 2007 Posted September 16, 2007 Bad...really bad... Rest in peace [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
Veter Posted September 17, 2007 Posted September 17, 2007 :((((( http://rusfalcons.ru 20=RF=Veter in online :pilotfly: i7 4790k 4.0@4.5\16gb1600@2133\ msi z87 gd-65 gaming\2x ssd240 raid 0\hdd-2tb\gigabyte gtx780ti oc\lg 42lm640t\asus vg248qe\track ir 5pro\logitech g940\
cikory Posted September 17, 2007 Posted September 17, 2007 RIP Там, где Уазик не пройдет, И там, где Абрамс не промчится, На пепелаце пролетят Уэф, Би, Скрипач и дядя Вова! (Если конечно не гробанутся на висении и посадке)
TucksonSonny Posted September 17, 2007 Posted September 17, 2007 . DELL Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 940 2,93 GHz @3 GHz, 8 MB cache | 8.192 MB 1.067 MHz Tri Channel DDR3 | 512 MB ATI® Radeon™ 4850 | 500 GB 7200 rpm Serial ATA | Samsung SM 2693 HM 25.5 " | HOTAS Cougar Thrustmaster |
Dmut Posted September 20, 2007 Posted September 20, 2007 ... RIP "There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general: recklessness, which leads to destruction; cowardice, which leads to capture; a hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults; a delicacy of honor which is sensitive to shame; over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble." Sun Tzu [sigpic]http://forums.eagle.ru/signaturepics/sigpic2354_5.gif[/sigpic]
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