Colin McRae twice let pilot health check lapse, doctor tells inquiry

FORMER world rally champion Colin McRae twice failed to renew his pilot's medical certificate, a court heard yesterday.

The sporting star failed to attend Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) medical examinations within the required timescales on two occasions.

In a statement, Dr Alan Downie, a GP based in Paisley, Renfrewshire, said McRae's fitness to fly lapsed by two weeks in 2003 and by three months in 2006.

It was read out at the tenth day of a fatal accident inquiry into the crash that claimed the lives of McRae, 39, his five-year-old son Johnny and family friends Ben Porcelli, six, and Graeme Duncan, 37.

McRae's helicopter crashed near his Jerviswood mansion in Lanark, as he flew home from a friend's farm on 15 September, 2007.

In a signed affidavit, Dr Downie, a CAA-appointed medical examiner, said McRae was always in "perfect health".

He said: "I first met Colin McRae in May 1999, when I carried out a medical in order for him to gain his pilot's licence.

"There were no issues with his health, and thereafter I issued his medical certificate.

"When I met him in December 2003, there was a lapse in validity of his medical certificate.

"I don't recall any reason for this lapse. I did not discuss it with Colin.

"When I examined him in March, 2006, his medical certificate had expired by just over three months.

"He was in perfect health and I didn't have any concerns. Pilots without a valid medical are effectively grounded and shouldn't fly any aircraft."

The inquiry also heard a statement from Craig Brackenridge, an air ambulance paramedic who arrived on the scene of the helicopter crash.

He said: "We followed our way towards the smoke. There was debris from the helicopter and although it was on fire there was very little heat.

"I then saw a leg. The leg had jeans and a Caterpillar boot on it."

Mr Brackenridge said he left the scene when it became apparent there were no survivors from the crash.

A statement was later read to the court confirming that officers from Strathclyde Police had retrieved a Sony camcorder belonging to Mr Duncan from the wreckage.

He had filmed footage of the fatal flight using the camera and the footage was accessed by a forensic investigation company.

The inquiry, before Sheriff Nikola Stewart, has been adjourned until March.