Borat_Drives_A_Scooby

I don`t think we will ever know the true cause of Colin Mcrae`s helicopter accident, ive just read this report, what do you make of it ?

Their are a couple of interesting quotes.

The Porcelli family in the quote below are saying the accident was completely avoidable.

In a statement, Mark and Karen Porcelli said: "Most of the flight was captured on video and it is clearly evident that unnecessary risks were taken and that the accident was completely avoidable."

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Glasgow, Lanarkshire and West | McRae flying licence had expired

bluenosewrx

iTrader: (2)

Personally i think he was to blame, i know that he was a icon for rally fans etc but it looks like he took it a bit to far TBH,

but thats my opinoin, i am sure i will be in the minority.

Mac

billyray911

iTrader: (4)

Too many factors there for anyone to definitely aportion blame regarding the overiding cause for the accident.
However,the facts regarding his licence remain fairly damning and if playing the devils advocate,we were talking about someone else,i'm sure the comments would be plentiful and very opinionated.
It was just a terrible,terrible tragedy-not borne out of maliciousness-posssibly as a result of momentary lapse of judgement.
It is important to have full inquests/investigations into these types of incidents,but when there is no final cause of accident/death etc,thats when the blame game starts.The past is the past and nothing can bring these people back.

RA Dunk

couldent have put it better myself, well said + 1

LUCKO

iTrader: (3)

cant imagine him flying like a loon with 2 kids in the chopper

especially when 1 is his own child

we will probably never know

.

Nurse Gladys

Unfortunately the evidence in the report swings towards just that.

The full report states it was a highly technically & difficult manouvre at put the party at added risk.

Also eye witness reports (some of which had experience of flying helicopters themselves) stated he was flying very low and exceptionally fast.

His total disrespect for paperwork (no licence and no log book - detailed logs of all previous flights - which were both required for a reason) does not go in his favour. This also means he had not been 'assessed' as was required.

I think the Porcellis, as any parents would, need someone to blame, and I don't believe they are too far of the mark.

We all know that he liked to take risks; some paid off, some didn't. I for one believe this was a terrible but avoidable incident.....

gallois

it seems his gift was rallying not aerobatics, he's gone from hero to zero pretty damn quick, as for the licence thing, if he had complied then there would have been no flight that day. put it this way, if an ace red-arrows pilot went for a spin in an unlicensed vehicle and crashed killing the occupants there would be no sympathy. i know lots of people really really wanted the aircraft to be faulty and i understand why. it seems that recklessness and a lack of judgement cost lives that day, completely tragic and such a waste.

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Disregarding the license issue, I suppose we have to think from his perspective of what was fast and risky, bearing in mind this is a man who made his living driving as fast and as close to the edge as possible, so what we may consider as being dangerous probably didnt even get his adrenalin flowing, whereas any normal person would have been bricking it.

Not that this admonishes him in any way - I always feel its fine to take as many risks as you want when you are the only person who can be injured, but when you are responsible for other people ( be it in a car, helicopter or whatever ) then you should keep that at the front of your mind and not take ANY uneccesary risks or try and show off.

Borat_Drives_A_Scooby

Using us Subaru enthusiasts as an example of which we all like speed and most of us like the thrill of driving quickly on quiet, twisty country roads.... The one thing we would never do is to drive quickly with children in the car especially other peoples children, if he was to blame for the deaths of 2 children and another adult by flying in a careless manner than i can`t forgive him regardless of how much of a hero he was of mine.

At the end of the day i doubt we will ever find out the true cause of the crash but it doesn`t look good reading certain evidence which alleges the accident was avoidable.

Nurse Gladys

I think you speak for the vast majority here - we all take risks to a lesser or greater extent, but to do it when others especially children are at risk is unforgivable and has seriuosly tarnished his memory.

I think it was a good call by the McRae family to 'postpone' the Lanark presentation, to at least respect the privacy of the other families involved.

Scrappy9

I have read the full report, it is unable to say exactly what caused the accident.

It makes reference to the video picking up the sounds of the passengers enjoying the flight which was only approx 6 minutes long.

To me it reads that he was travelling at speed making some quick changes in direction and height with everyone generally enjoying the flight, he made a mis-judgement and the result was fatal. He was literally only 30 seconds from his house.

It is a tragic loss of life and probably was avoidable, but then most motor accidents are. We all make mistakes its just a shame this one had such a devastating outcome.

As others have said its tragic for the family of the others in the helicopter, including C.M's, they lost a five year old member of their family as well.

Borat_Drives_A_Scooby

I agree that it was a tragic loss of life, how would people be viewing this if it was someone driving a car that had no driving licence and based on the reports they were also driving at speed attempting very technical manoeuvres that may have contributed to 2 children and 2 adults losing their life ?

Scoobydick

Travelling very low, very fast, with no licence and only monents from a big smash.......................sounds like me in the scooby LOL

Lets face it - McRae was hooning around for kicks and it went wrong. After all he had enough crashes in WRC.

simpsons !

As the report say's no-one will ever know what happened that very very sad day.


Secondly show me a WRC champion that has never crashed on a stage and i'll show my A**E Live on what ever TV station you choose!

Think before you type

johno_2k1

the man is my idol he is what made me get a scoob , it was a sad day when we lost the legend but he should never have been flying , what a fool

Dspeed

Accidents happen, leave it at that. If its your time its your time.

DazW

iTrader: (1)

According my Bro-in-law (who's a pilot) the AAIB don't normally come to an inconclusive decision. They're not exactly renowned for their sentiment & sensitivity either ...read into that what you will

tbtstt

If you're interested in this then you may want to read this:

AS350B Squirrel G-CBHL

This is the actual accident report document issued from the AAIB. (Warning: some elements of the report are not pleasant to read)

I only have limited experience in the industry but, from the description in the report, it seems he was flying too low, too fast and the inevitable happened. The report does reference servo transparency but, based on the attitude of the aircraft on impact, this seems unlikely. As DazW has already said, AAIB reports often reach inconclusive reports unless there is concrete evidence present. I also wonder if this report has been left intentionally open knowing that its going to be so closely examined.

Irrespective though, its a tragic loss of life and a great loss to the world of motorsport: and regardless of the circumstances, thats how he should be remembered.

Flaps

iTrader: (1)

Just what I was thinking.