Colin Mc Rae helicopter crash investigation conclusion

S

Scruff

Petrolheads
"Conclusion
The cause of the accident was not positively determined. Although no technical reason was found to explain it, a technical fault, whilst considered unlikely, could not be ruled out entirely. The available evidence indicated that the helicopter was intact when it struck the trees and that the engine was delivering power. The aircraft’s trajectory suggested that the pilot was in control of the aircraft at the time of impact and was attempting to recover from a significant deviation from his intended flight path when the helicopter struck the trees.
The descent into the Mouse Water Valley appears to have been a deliberate manoeuvre. Considering the video evidence, the pilot’s intention was probably to fly a hard, right turn at low height within the valley, possibly leading to a further, final zoom climb before landing at the helipad. A high-speed, low-level turning manoeuvre in the heavily wooded valley was a demanding one, which would have subjected the helicopter and its occupants to an increased risk. The circumstances of the accident, which included a strong tailwind, suggest that the pilot needed to fly an unexpectedly high performance manoeuvre which led to, or contributed to, the flight path deviation. This deviation may have been due to a servo transparency encounter, spatial disorientation, misjudgement or some other factor or combination of factors."

As usual in most aircraft accidents they put it down to pilot error. :icon_sad:
 
yea its hard to read alrite. the word i find very sad in reading it is 'avoidable'. :icon_sad:
 
Firstly a licence is just that, its like if your driving licence went out of date, you still know how to drive a car its just that you shouldn't be doing it. So that has no baring on this story in my opinion.

And if I remember correctly wasn't he attempting to land in bad weather, how come that has been excluded from these findings? I'm pretty sure it was windy & foggy which would be a reason why he was off course or trying to make a turn he shouldn't necessarily have been doing.
 
STi Brian said:
Firstly a licence is just that, its like if your driving licence went out of date, you still know how to drive a car its just that you shouldn't be doing it. So that has no baring on this story in my opinion.
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As a Commercial Pilot I have to disagree. There is a reason why pilots must pass Sim checks every 6 months (or they are not allowed back to fly until they do). Flying is not like driving or riding a bike. You DO forget hence why it is necessary for pilots to spend thousands every year in re-currency training because when things go bad, in the half second it takes for you to remember your training, you are already dead.
Im disappointed Colin chose to fly with an expired license and took the controls of a helicopter he was not trained on.

Avoidable, most definitely.
 
Well I'll bow to your superior knowledge on that Andy, you're certainly better positioned to make an informed decision on that aspect of it.

But I can't believe he was attempting to make crazy turns on a horrible night, more likely he was struggling to control it against strong winds and very poor visibility.
 
STi Brian said:
more likely he was struggling to control it against strong winds and very poor visibility.
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probably but only Colin knows.

Its a shame because I feel now people are just going to remember him as the guy with no license that killed his passengers.
 
I've seen videos of colin on a jet ski and in buggy's etc. He always pushed them to the limit and was showing off. Could he of been showing off ? Very possible. Most of the flight was on video. They wouldnt of come out with a statement like that if they didnt have firm evidence to back it up. Sad reading
 
kanye from the west said:
I've seen videos of colin on a jet ski and in buggy's etc. He always pushed them to the limit and was showing off. Could he of been showing off ? Very possible. Most of the flight was on video. They wouldnt of come out with a statement like that if they didnt have firm evidence to back it up. Sad reading
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Have to agree.... great man for showing off.... buy that's who he was and why we loved him so much as a driver, it's just a shame it had ended in such tragedy! The world won't be the same without him... Sadly missed! R.I.P! :icon_pray: :icon_pray: :icon_pray:
 
Anyone who likes speed and enjoys the rush like what Colm did knows that it is hard to hold things back and especially if you have people with you that enjoy it too.. he still has same standing in my mind regardless of any report, and no matter what it was an accient and know one set out for it to happen, unfortunetly it is something that will lie with the good memorys people have of him and his family have to grin and bare all these reports and possibilities. Sometimes these reports being open to public serve no purpose than to place a blame and shame someone and there family, whatever happend i know he would have done his best to save everyone on board, but unfortunetly luck left him when he took off. I hope no more reports like this come up and that familys are left alone, and all on board can r.i.p
 
i just reading the report on another scooby site.
and i guessing its coming from a paper,.

dont belive every thing you read!
there was a bit here i decided to delite.

so from my point of view, them fookes will make up anything to make a story bigger.
 
It also recommended that Eurocopter reviewed its information and advice about the servo transparency phenomenon.
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AndyC maybe you could explain this a bit better but it sounds to me like if you make to many
quick / hard adjusments to your direction / rotation .......the controls jam!! :ponder2: :ponder2:

Well what ever it dose , you would think it would be plastered across the controls so you could avoid this ????

Lads that report may not look to kindly on Colin but let's be honest , he went out with friends & family for a fun spin
in his helicopter and what should of, possibly been the highlight of the Day, turned into tragedy .
A terrible accident ................could it of been avoided ??? Of course but so could every other accident that ever happened !!!!!

All the report dose is give the grieving families somewhere to point there anguish........ at such a loss.

It dose not change my opinion of a through Rally HERO , who always put 100% into everything he did.


Niall
 
Exactly Niall :thumbsup: everytime we go out in our cars and push them harder than what is recomended, (which in my opinion is reason we have these) we all are more liable to have a smack and put us or our passengers in more danger. How many of use has had a friend jump in and we quick bring them for a blast? and if something went wrong there would be reports exactly like this about us.
I do beleive that luck pays a big factor in everything and many times luck has been on Colins side, but this time it left his side at starting line.. but the main fact is, that all these reports are just theories, and no one knows or ever will know,
they say helicopter was perfect and i know there advanced machinery, but how many times have we driven our cars and it would for no reason develop a prob, a miss, a miss, fire, die on power etc etc and as soon as it happens it disapears again and doesnt show up again.. how cant they say for sure that nothing went wrong with helicopter?. I am not saying he did, but for all we know, he could of done same manouver in same place everytime he flew the thing and just this time as ive said luck wasnt on board with him. A great shame to see families wiped out like this and stupid reports open to public that just look to lay blame on a person, when it actually makes not a bit of fokn dafference now, and there no need for any of us to know about findings, its nothing to do with us.
 
Niallyboy said:
AndyC maybe you could explain this a bit better but it sounds to me like if you make to many
quick / hard adjusments to your direction / rotation .......the controls jam!! :ponder2: :ponder2:
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To put it simply Nial, you are correct.

If the aircraft is maneuvered in such a way (as Colin is rumored to have been attempting a tight turn) that the G Limit is exceeded, the loads on the main rotor become too much for the hydraulic system so cope with, hence the pilot gets feedback in the controls giving the impression that they are jammed. In actual fact they are not. To recover the pilot needs to either decrease the G load on the aircraft or use excessive force on the controls to overcome the G limit to regain control again. The fact Colin was non-current in training and particularly not trained on the aircraft he was flying would not have prepared him for what he was experiencing.
 
Would that not be considerd a fault in that type of chopper :ponder2: and why wouldnt the manufactures try to develop a better system that doesnt seem like its jammed?
 
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