ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 58678
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| Date: | Saturday 15 September 2007 |
| Time: | 15:05 LT |
| Type: |  Eurocopter AS 350B2 Squirrel |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | G-CBHL |
| MSN: | 2673 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1992 |
| Engine model: | Turbomeca Arriel 1D1 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Mouse Water Valley, 1 mile N of Lanark, Scotland -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Larkhall, Lanarkshire |
| Private Helipad, Mouse Water Valley, Lanark | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The helicopter crashed in a wooded valley while manoeuvring at high speed and low height. It was intact prior to impact, and the available evidence indicated that the engine was delivering power.
The cause of the accident was not positively determined. Although no technical reason was found to explain the accident, a technical fault could not be ruled out entirely. However, it is more likely that the pilot attempted a turning manoeuvre at low height, during which the helicopter deviated from his intended flight path. This may have been due to the pilot encountering handling difficulties, misjudgement, spatial disorientation, distraction or a combination of factors.
There were indications that the pilot had started a recovery but, with insufficient height in which to complete it, the helicopter struck trees in the valley and crashed, killing all four occupants.
Registration G-CBHL cancelled by the CAA on 23/03/2008 as aircraft "destroyed" and owners "deceased". One of those killed was (according to press reports) the owner and pilot, former world rally champion Colin McRae. McRae's five-year-old son Johnny, and two family friends, Graeme Duncan and Johnny's six-year-old friend Ben Porcelli, also died in the crash. McRae's previously active website, (http://www. ColinMcRae.com), was later replaced with a memorial screen stating a few details about the crash, and then with a short statement released on behalf of McRae's father, Jimmy, and later a book of condolences.
After the crash, an investigative team from the UK Department for Transport Air Accidents Investigation Branch attended the scene in co-operation with Strathclyde Police. The wreckage of the helicopter was removed to Farnborough for further forensic investigation. Pilots operate under strict regulations, and are expected in the case of helicopters under CAA rules to undertake a competency test every year, and to renew their licenses every five years – not to do so is illegal.
It later emerged that McRae had not undertaken a competency check as required in March 2006, and that effectively his license had expired in February 2005. A CAA spokesman commented "The investigators must determine why [McRae] hasn't kept up to date with his documentation. There is no suggestion that Mr McRae was not a competent pilot."
A Fatal Accident Inquiry into the incident concluded, on 6 September 2011, that McRae was at fault for the avoidable helicopter crash that led to his death and the death of his passengers. Sheriff Nikola Stewart stated, after the 16-day inquiry, that McRae had been engaged in "unnecessary and unsafe" low-level flying at the time of the crash. Sheriff Stewart concluded that the accident might have been avoided if McRae had not flown into the Mouse Valley. For a private pilot such as McRae, without enough experience, low-level flying in that terrain was very imprudent.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. http://www.aaib.gov.uk/sites/aaib/publications/bulletins/february_2009/eurocopter_as350b2_squirrel__g_cbhl.cfm
2. http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=60&pagetype=65&appid=1&mode=reg&fullregmark=CBHL
3. http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/fast-and-low-manoeuvring-preceded-mcrae-helicopter-crash-322477/
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_MacRae#Death
5. http://www.scotsman.com/news/scotland/top-stories/rally-ace-colin-mcrae-dies-in-helicopter-crash-1-1423322
6. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6997270.stm
7. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-14803595
8. http://www.scotland-judiciary.org.uk/10/798/Fatal-Accident-Inquiry-into-the-deaths-of-Colin-McRae--Graeme-Duncan--Ben-Porcelli-and-John-McRae
9. http://www.autoblog.com/2011/09/06/colin-mcrae-found-at-fault-in-his-own-fatal-helicopter-crash/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-Feb-2009 12:56 | harro | Added |
| 15-May-2013 14:13 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 16-Jul-2014 16:26 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 19-Jun-2018 14:32 | MarkStep | Updated [Source] |
| 04-Mar-2020 17:58 | Awat | Updated [Plane category] |
| 04-Mar-2020 18:03 | harro | Updated [Source, Accident report, ] |
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