Colin McRae's instructor tells of accidental plunge risk

A PILOT who taught tragic rally driver Colin McRae how to fly helicopters has told an inquiry that passengers interfering with an aircraft's controls could cause it to go into "freefall".

Alastair Sutherland, 48, who was McRae's flying instructor, said if a front-seat passenger accidentally nudged dual lever controls, the aircraft would plummet rapidly.

Mr Sutherland tutored McRae in 1999 in Majorca as he prepared to gain his private pilot's licence.

An experienced helicopter and jet pilot, Mr Sutherland said the loss of altitude would be a "terribly" frightening experience for a pilot.

He was giving evidence at the fatal accident inquiry into the crash which claimed the lives of McRae, his son Johnny and family friends Ben Porcelli, six, and Graeme Duncan, 37.

The Eurocopter Squirrel aircraft came down near 39-year-old McRae's Jerviswood home just outside Lanark in September 2007.

The inquiry at Lanark Sheriff Court before Sheriff Nikola Stewart was adjourned until May.