McRae helicopter crash - flying too low?
Discussion
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west...
From the article:
"An inquiry into the deaths of a rally car champion and three others in a helicopter crash has concluded that it could have been avoided.
Colin McRae's aircraft came down at high speed near to his Lanark home.
The 39-year-old who was piloting the machine died with his son Johnny, five, Ben Porcelli, six, and Graeme Duncan.
Sheriff Nikola Stewart said the 2007 crash could have been avoided had Mr McRae not engaged in low level flying "when it was unnecessary and unsafe"."
From the article:
"An inquiry into the deaths of a rally car champion and three others in a helicopter crash has concluded that it could have been avoided.
Colin McRae's aircraft came down at high speed near to his Lanark home.
The 39-year-old who was piloting the machine died with his son Johnny, five, Ben Porcelli, six, and Graeme Duncan.
Sheriff Nikola Stewart said the 2007 crash could have been avoided had Mr McRae not engaged in low level flying "when it was unnecessary and unsafe"."
HellDiver said:
When you think about it, all helicopter crashes are due to flying too low.
Or rather, flying too low, too quickly/ not gentley enough.In any case, it's sad that the report seems to have concluded that the accident happened as a likely result of a 'watch this' bit of flying
Its not like he didnt have "previous" for low flying though...
Not sure if a rally drivers mindset is the best for Helicopters though, he was apt to take risks and they didnt always pay off, racers tend to be like that where pilots tend to be more level headed and focused on doing the job safely rather than it being a buzz.
Still, a huge tragedy and one I still cant quite get my head around, especially with the little ones being involved as well, heard Colin and his boy were buried together and I dont mind saying that reading that did and still does make me well up.
Not sure if a rally drivers mindset is the best for Helicopters though, he was apt to take risks and they didnt always pay off, racers tend to be like that where pilots tend to be more level headed and focused on doing the job safely rather than it being a buzz.
Still, a huge tragedy and one I still cant quite get my head around, especially with the little ones being involved as well, heard Colin and his boy were buried together and I dont mind saying that reading that did and still does make me well up.
J4CKO said:
Not sure if a rally drivers mindset is the best for Helicopters though, he was apt to take risks and they didnt always pay off, racers tend to be like that where pilots tend to be more level headed and focused on doing the job safely rather than it being a buzz.
By most accounts his attitude to flying was nothing like that - on the contrary he seemed to regard flying as a very different, much more serious animal.Edited by GravelBen on Tuesday 6th September 12:45
Seems we already have a thread running on the subject here.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
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