Colin McRae

tut · Post by **tut** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:45 am

I was disturbed to see the headline in the Sun yesterday, in fact the whole of the front page. I just hope that it is as accurate as their normal crap.

It stated that Colin did not have a Pilots Licence, it was two years out of date, and his Competency Check was six months out of date.

I did not buy the paper to read the rest, and have not seen it reported anywhere else.

tut

r055 · Post by **r055** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:02 pm

it was in the metro this morning...

they didnt want to say too much at this stage due to the air crash investigation

Titanium S1 111S (gla) · Post by **Titanium S1 111S (gla)** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:33 pm

Hope thatâ€™s not true but even if it is flying/driving without a licence while irresponsible does not cause a crash. I would be more concerned if the maintenance records on the helicopter were not up-to-date.

Laymanâ€™s view.

Gareth · Post by **Gareth** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:46 pm

Also, the other wee boy that was killed, "apparently" his parents did not know he was in the chopper.

woody · Post by **woody** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:59 pm

I hope it's not true, but if he didn't bother with that, then it raises the question of what he did bother with. Very sad if true.

Scotty C · Post by **Scotty C** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 1:26 pm

Gareth wrote:Also, the other wee boy that was killed, "apparently" his parents did not know he was in the chopper.

To be fair, thats just like taking other peoples kids out in the car is it not?

Daveb · Post by **Daveb** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 1:33 pm

Scotty C wrote:To be fair, thats just like taking other peoples kids out in the car is it not?

Not sure.

Going in a car is a everyday event. Surely if they were going to go in the helecopter the parents should at least be asked.

tenkfeet · Post by **tenkfeet** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 2:05 pm

Best to wait until the official accident report comes out which will detail everything including pilots experience , licence and competency . I do not believe anything I read in the papers as they twist and comment on things they know nothing about .

http://www.aaib.dft.gov.uk/home/index.cfm

GregR · Post by **GregR** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 2:10 pm

Gents, in light of the respect I (and several others have on here) for Colin McRae, please don't turn this into a cauldron of speculation.

YvoTuk · Post by **YvoTuk** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 2:11 pm

When it first happened, everybody was talking / writing about the high respect for detail Colin showed when he was flying his chopper. Everybody was tumbling over eachother to tell the world Colin wasn't flying his helicopter in the same style in which he drove his (rallye)cars.

FFS, the man has just been buried, is it necessary to do a full page to blaim a dead man for his own death and that of three others?

Disgusting!

tut · Post by **tut** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 2:44 pm

Unfortunately Yvo that is what newspapers do, and the Rags are always the first to make sure that they print the worse news that they can.

My concern is the effect that this would have upon his family and friends, as people just read the headlines and condemn without any knowledge of what it actually means or what is involved.

As this has now come into the open, I think that the AAIB would be wise to put out a statement ahead of the results of the cause of the crash so that the speculation goes no further.

A fair bet is that the accident is now yesterdays news, but after this, the Paparazzi will already be hounding the family again.

I agree though that we should not speculate on here, which I was not doing, just posting what had been printed and that is going to cause a lot of grief.

tut

ExigeKen · Post by **ExigeKen** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 3:00 pm

Thats awful. Why cant we just leave people alone.

I hate this type of nonesense and The Sun is the worst of a bad lot. It has a track record of treating the dead will ill respect. I am responsible for it not being sold in the shop at my work.

andy_snap · Post by **andy_snap** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 3:36 pm

I have, until now, been keeping out of the anti-media rants on this forum.

I have worked for The Sun for the past 20 years and have covered many of the big stories that have happened here in Scotland including Lockerbie, Dunblane,Maddie McCann and the McRae tragedy.

I object to the casual slagging by people that don't read the paper, as Exigeken admits, having it banned from his shop at work.

At Dunblane, our paper was instrumental in the media pulling out of the town and NOT covering the funerals of the victims.

We certainly did not hound the family and friends involved in the McRae tragedy and we did not attend the funeral which was a pool arranged by the family and police for all UK media. Through the paper I met and photographed the great man many times, the last only a few weeks before his death on a piece exclusive for The Sun.

I have never been involved in "treating the dead will ill respect" and never will - I do have morals!

I'm not saying that the papers are whiter than white but you only need to look at the coverage by 24 hour tv news which is every bit as intrusive if not more.

Please can we have a wee bit more balance on here!

Corranga · Post by **Corranga** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 3:49 pm

I think the issue here is that it only seemed to have been the Sun that run the story (until Metro did that is).

In defense of the paper (I really can't believe i'm doing this, i'm the stereotypical "The sun is a horrid intrusive rag" kinda person) it's not so much the press that are to blame. Personally I blame the idiots that buy into these sorts of stories, which unfortunatly is the majority. The UK public are so obsessed with celebs and their shortfalls that sometimes i'm embarraed to be a member of this public.

Maybe it's slightly immoral, but if so many million people want to read about knickerless singers and the acts of now deceased people, then that's where the money must be

I'm not for censoring the media, but i think the feelings and mourning of family and friends of those in the accident is so much more important than 'the public must know everything' The Suns front page was tasteless, and frankly disgusting.

ExigeKen · Post by **ExigeKen** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 4:25 pm

You may object to the slagging but I am afraid I objected to the anti Liverpool stories published in the Sun after Hillsborough (and yes I have a long memory but then I knew people at Hillsborough), which showed no respect at all for the dead and I amongst many other found very offensive. Free speech is very much allowed in the UK thankfully and you are clearly entitled to your view just like I am to mine. I am sure that there are many people at your work who have similar morals to you and I was in no way targetting anyone on this forum.

Just now I am not interested in reading about whether Colin McRae did or did not have a licence just believe his family should be left to grieve in peace. Just my opinion.