17/09/2007
NEWS STORY
Prodrive boss David Richards was involved in a helicopter crash on Sunday, less than 24 hours after his former driver Colin McRae perished in a similar accident along with his son and two others.
Richards, whose Prodrive team is scheduled to enter Formula One next season, had been at Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian GP, but returned to the UK early following official police confirmation that McRae was one of four people involved in the fatal crash in Scotland on Saturday.
It was on the return to England that a technical fault, believed to be transmission related, developed. Aware that something was wrong, Richards radioed ahead to nearby Stansted Airport in Essex, managing to bring the craft to the ground before it crashed on to its side. Richards and his wife escaped unharmed.
McRae won his 1995 World Rally Championship crown with Richards.