Colin McRae FAI: Witness describes erratic route of helicopter before crash

A woman and her mother feared there was "something wrong" with a low-flying helicopter after it made an unusual noise, an inquest into death of former world rallying champion Colin McRae heard today.

• A picture of the scene of the crash taken in 2007

Anne Cooper, 57, said the aircraft suddenly appeared near her house and was following an unusual flight path.

The witness also described how the aircraft was flying "awfully close" to a line of trees and she wondered if it would manage to clear them.

Mrs Cooper, a chief executive of a housing association, was giving evidence at a fatal accident inquiry at Lanark Sheriff Court, following the 2007 helicopter crash which killed former world rally champion McRae and his passengers.

McRae, 39, died when the helicopter he was piloting came down near his house in Lanark on September 15 that year.

His five-year-old son Johnny, the boy's six-year-old school friend Ben Porcelli and McRae's friend Graeme Duncan, 37, were also killed in the crash.

Mrs Cooper, of Crossford, South Lanarkshire, told the court she was sitting in her conservatory with her mother that day.

"A helicopter came over the house very suddenly," she said, describing the route as "very unusual".

She said: "No helicopter has ever flown over that bit of the garden before."

The witness said the aircraft was flying "so low" and she wondered whether it would manage to clear some nearby trees.

"I did have the feeling of 'oh my gosh, that is awfully close to the trees'," she said.

Mrs Cooper said it was the noise of the helicopter which initially attracted her attention and made her look up.

"I'd never heard a noise quite like it. It was very, very loud," she said.

"The way I describe it was if you put a washing machine on and you put something in it like coins or keys."

She added: "Both of us thought it sounded bad and both of us said 'oh my gosh, there's something wrong'."