Racing driver found at fault for flying recklessly and causing crash, in which he and three others died, by judicial inquiry

The former world rally champion Colin McRae has been held totally to blame for a helicopter crash that killed himself, another man and two children, including his son, after a judicial investigation.

Sheriff Nikola Stewart said the racing driver was guilty of "imprudently" and "unnecessarily" taking the helicopter on a dangerous low-level flight into a heavily wooded valley in 2007 to thrill his passengers, despite having no pilot's licence for the aircraft.

The crash in Mouse valley near Larkhall, Lanarkshire, killed McRae, his five-year-old son John "Johnny" McRae, a six-year-old family friend and neighbour, Ben Porcelli, and another friend, Graeme Arthur Duncan, aged 36, leaving wreckage scattered across the hillside.

Ben Porcelli's distraught parents, Mark and Karen Porcelli, said at the time that McRae had never asked permission to take their son on the flight. Police investigators at the crash site said the impact was so severe, it was difficult to tell that a helicopter was involved.

In a lengthy and damning ruling following a fatal accident inquiry into the crash, Stewart found that McRae, 39, was guilty of a series of dangerous, reckless and unjustified manoeuvres during the flight, including flying at very low level and failing to follow basic rules of airmanship.

She confirmed the driver, who became world famous for endorsing the hit computer racing games Colin McRae Rally and Dirt, did not have the correct flying licence or authorisation for operating that type of helicopter, and was flying illegally.

She recorded how the flight had been partially filmed by Duncan, which showed that McRae had flown as low as 275ft (84 metres), apparently to buzz some farm buildings, and then banked the helicopter sharply in a series of aerial stunts.

"He undertook significant manoeuvring at low level and the helicopter seems to have encountered significant g-loading as a result, to the evident enjoyment of his passengers," the sheriff recorded, in a judgment issued on Tuesday.

"The episodes of extremely low-level flying and the excessive manoeuvre parameters, particularly the descent into the valley by Larkhall, all as captured on the video recording, are indicative of an aircraft being flown imprudently, without due regard to the principles of good airmanship, and in such a way that normal safety margins would be reduced.

"The deaths and the accident resulting in the deaths might have been avoided had Mr McRae not flown his helicopter into the Mouse valley. Such a precaution would have been entirely reasonable. There was no necessity to enter the Mouse valley. There were no operational or logistical reasons to enter the Mouse valley.

"Mr McRae chose to fly the helicopter into the valley. For a private pilot such as Mr McRae, lacking the necessary training, experience or requirement to do so, embarking upon such demanding, low-level flying in such difficult terrain, was imprudent, unreasonable and contrary to the principles of good airmanship."

McRae's father, the former British rally champion Jimmy McRae, insisted his son was a skilled and experienced pilot. In a brief statement, he said: "We still believe we will never know what caused the crash but we were never in any doubt as to Colin's prowess as a fine pilot.

"Everybody knows from Colin's rallying career that safety is always an issue and that his reactions and eye and hand co-ordination were first class."

Jimmy McRae added: "The past four years have been extremely difficult for all the families concerned and we hope that now we can move forward."

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