Rally car champion Colin McRae has been blamed for causing the helicopter crash in which he died along with his five-year-old son and two family friends. A fatal accident inquiry found the crash, near his family home in Lanark in 2007, happened because he carried out unnecessary low-level manoeuvres. It also found that Mr McRae's flying was "imprudent" and "unreasonable". In a statement, the McRae family said they "still believe we will never know what caused the crash". No permission Mr McRae, 39, his five-year-old son Johnny, the boy's six-year-old friend Ben Porcelli and Graeme Duncan, 37, all died when the aircraft came down near the McRae family home in Lanark on 15 September 2007 as they flew home from a trip to see a friend. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote Low-level flying in such difficult terrain, was imprudent, unreasonable and contrary to the principles of good airmanship” Sheriff Nikola Stewart The inquiry had heard from Karen and Mark Porcelli, the parents of Ben, who said they did not give Mr McRae permission to take their son in the helicopter. Sheriff Nikola Stewart, who heard the inquiry over 16 days at Lanark Sheriff Court, concluded that the deaths could have been avoided if Mr McRae had not engaged in low-level flying "when it was unnecessary and unsafe to do so". In her written determination, the sheriff concluded: "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." The helicopter crashed near Mr McRae's home in September 2007 The ruling states that the accident happened when, due to an "unknown occurrence", the aircraft deviated from its intended flight path and crashed into trees lining the side of Mouse Valley. The aircraft was in powered flight at the time of the crash and Mr McRae had attempted to recover from that unknown incident. These attempts, the sheriff said, were unsuccessful because of the position and speed of the helicopter within Mouse Valley and the ensuing restrictions on opportunities to land the helicopter or fly it to safety. Such options would have been available to him had he "adhered to rules of good airmanship and desisted from flying in the valley at low height and high speed", she said. 'Unsafe' flying The sheriff stated: "It would have been a reasonable precaution to refrain from flying helicopter G-CBHL into Mouse Valley wherein the pilot engaged in low-level flying when it was unnecessary and unsafe for him to do so, and whilst carrying passengers on board." As part of the hearing, the sheriff and lawyers involved in the case visited the woods where the Eurocopter Squirrel aircraft crashed. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote We still believe we will never know what caused the crash” Jimmy McRae Colin McRae's father One of the crash victims, Mr Duncan, filmed much of the outbound and return flights on his personal camcorder and some of the footage was recovered and included in the inquiry hearings. Sheriff Stewart said the footage indicated that the helicopter was being flown "at unnecessarily low heights". "He (Mr McRae) 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 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." To fly an aircraft in the UK, it is necessary to hold a pilot's licence and a valid medical certificate, and to have the licence validated with the type of aircraft to be flown. Sheriff Stewart found that Mr McRae did not hold a valid flying licence or a valid "rating" for the Eurocopter Squirrel helicopter. Continue reading the main story Inquiry timeline The FAI took place at Lanark Sheriff Court Evidence was heard over 12 days between 12 January and 26 May, 2011 An inspection of the site took place and points along the flight path were visited on January, 2011 Final submissions heard on 8 August, 2011 Fatal Accident Inquiry conclusions were published on 6 September "He was, accordingly, in breach of article 26 of the Air Navigation Order 2005 when he flew his helicopter on September 15 2007 and should not have flown that machine at that time," she said. The sheriff's findings go further than an Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report, published in February 2009, which found no cause could be positively determined into the tragedy. In a statement, Mr McRae's family said they still believed the cause of the crash could not be determined. His father, Jimmy McRae, 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 world-class." He said his family had wanted the inquiry to recommend that private aircrafts should be fitted with a flight data recorder. He said: "Had a flight recorder been fitted to the aircraft, it may have been possible to determine what occurred in the final seconds of the flight and what actually caused the helicopter to crash. "This would prevent uncertainty as to the cause of the crash and allow lessons to be learned from tragic accidents such as this." Mr McRae said he hoped the family would be able to "move forward" following the findings. The McRae family's solicitor, Peter Watson, added: "Although Colin's licence was out-of-date, this played no contributory factor whatsoever to the accident.
The documents revealing the cosy relationship between top British and Libyan intelligence officials are embarrassing not just because they confirm Britain's rendition of Islamist terror suspects, including Abdel Hakim Belhadj, the Transitional National Council's new security commander in Tripoli, but also because they lend credence to Britain's reputation as a slippery operator in the Middle East. David Cameron's support for the TNC was meant to gain souk cred by tying Britain's banner to the spirit of the Arab Spring. Cameron has said the new documents should be examined by the independent Detainee Inquiry, chaired by Sir Peter Gibson. They show how keen Tony Blair was to bring Gaddafi into the fold following Saddam Hussein's fall in April 2003 and to trade an end to Libya's pariah status in return for help in the war against terrorism. There was little wrong with that. What is sickening is the extent to which Britain sought to ingratiate itself by delivering up Gaddafi's opponents. No less disturbing is the manner in which Britain's cosying up to Gaddafi has been represented as a mistake by misguided individuals, for which institutions such as the London School of Economics have suffered. Perhaps the most fascinating new document was sent on March 18, 2004 to Musa Kusa, head of Libyan intelligence, by Mark Allen, MI6's director of counter-terrorism, who crowed about Belhadj's rendition while arranging a forthcoming visit by Blair to Libya. A week later Gaddafi welcomed the British PM in his Tripoli tent (as requested by Allen for publicity reasons). It is difficult to say who was the greater showman: the unctuous Blair or Gaddafi joking how his Third Universal Theory, the basis of his Green Book, paved the way for Blair's Third Way politics. Within two months, Allen was pipped as the next MI6 head by John Scarlett, who, two years earlier, as chief of the Joint Intelligence Committee, had backed Blair's argument that Saddam had dangerous weapons of mass destruction. Allen left the SIS shortly afterwards. For Middle East watchers, an interesting outcome has been these glimpses of intelligence machinations in this most secretive of regions. A Le Carré of the al Qaeda conflict will surely follow. It is Cameron who now has to deal with the practical consequences. The ultimate fate of Gaddafi and his family is out of his hands. But Britain has tough decisions to make about other players, including Musa Kusa, who defected from Libya in March, came to Britain, and was last heard of in a Qatar hotel. In 1980 he was expelled from Britain for advocating the murder of Libyan dissidents. For this and his wider role in Libyan terrorism, many powerful voices argue that he should be tried in Britain. But, even at this stage, it may be that he has too much to reveal. More immediately, the Prime Minister needs to assess the role of former Islamists such as Belhadj in the new regime and take appropriate measures. It will not be enough to kick the rendition issue into the long grass by referring it to the Gibson inquiry, which has yet to begin its work. If David Cameron hoped for an easy ride in post-Gaddafi Libya, these papers have disabused him of that notion.
Four former News International executives will face a fresh round of questioning from MPs over the phone-hacking scandal. The Commons Culture, Media and Sport committee will quiz the News of the World's former editor Colin Myler and ex-legal manager Tom Crone after the pair publicly challenged evidence given by James Murdoch over his knowledge of the illegal practice. News International's former director of legal affairs Jonathan Chapman and Daniel Cloke, former group HR director, will also appear before the committee as the probe into the scandal is resumed following the summer recess. Mr Myler and Mr Crone have been summoned before MPs for the second time after publicly disputing claims made by Mr Murdoch earlier in the Parliamentary inquiry. The News International chairman told the committee he was not made aware of an email in 2008 indicating that the practice of illegally intercepting voicemails was not confined to a single "rogue" reporter. But the two former Sunday tabloid executives insist that they told him about the message in June of that year. The panel of MPs could now recall Mr Murdoch "depending on their evidence under questioning". Committee chairman John Whittingdale said the latest round of questioning was an attempt to uncover the truth in the "continuing difference in the accounts of James Murdoch and Tom Crone and Colin Myler about whether or not James Murdoch was aware of the so-called 'for Neville' email". The 2005 email contained transcripts of hacked phone messages and was headed "for Neville", in an apparent reference to the News of the World's then-chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck. Its existence came to light in April 2008 when Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor brought a damages claim against the paper over the interception of his voicemail.
Sky News can reveal how rioting gang members have stored away firearms ready for further disorder after the unrest in England last month. Our exclusive investigation allowed Metropolitan Police detectives to seize a stash of five guns. The weapons were bundled up in a bin store in Brockley, southeast London. Sky sources said they were concealed by gangs in anticipation of further clashes with officers. The information came to us from an anonymous individual who felt they could not deal directly with the police. :: Join Tom Parmenter for a Webchat at 12pm But the person did have genuine concerns about what might happen if the gangs were given another opportunity to use the weapons. Once we were told of the existence of this haul, we alerted detectives at the Metropolitan Police. Their priority, and our own, was to recover the firearms as quickly as possible in case they were either moved or even used in a shooting. SHELDON THOMAS, DIRECTOR OF TARGET AGAINST GANGS The location of the stash was revealed in a text sent to Sky on September 2. We do not know who sent it. It read: "Guns in yellow and orange jd bag at st peters court wickham road brockley london se4, open the bin area at entrance, on left hand side, this is a black metal door, you will find in bin the guns within the bag, describe, the bin area has st peters court written above in big writing on sign, remember left hand side bin, st peters court are a small block of flats." Within moments of the text messages arriving, we got back in touch with the Met Police detectives, who had a team of officers on standby to conduct the search. Communication with the police can take many forms and on this occasion Sky News happened to be the facilitator for the information to reach us. Detective Chief Inspector Theresa Breen, Met Police Within an hour and a half, more than 30 officers were swarming around the flats in Brockley. They had soon dragged the bin from behind the black door specified in the message. Moments later an officer found the orange and yellow bag. Forensics officers were then brought in to record the find. Armed police officers were the next to arrive. They had the experience and expertise to examine the guns and make them safe. Police discovered the guns in a bin The guns were wrapped in three plastic bags. The green inner bag contained five weapons which were carefully removed. Among them were two flare guns, two old pistols and one revolver. Detective Chief Inspector Theresa Breen told Sky News: "This is a hugely successful operation not just for the Metropolitan Police but for the community at large. "A member of the community has felt confident enough to use Sky News to come to us with information that there were weapons somewhere within this area. "I think that shows the community still has confidence in the police."
