World rally star Colin McRae and his young son were feared dead after his helicopter crashed and exploded near his Scottish home.
The 39-year-old driver was thought to be at the controls of the French-built Squirrel helicopter with his son Johnny, five, as a passenger when it crashed a mile from the family farm in Lanarkshire just after 4pm.
Former World Rally champion Colin McRae arrives by helicopter after flying himself to the Trossachs, near Callander, for the 2006 County Saab Scottish Rally preview day
Police confirmed that at least one person had died but said the helicopter was so badly damaged by fire that they were not immediately able to confirm how many people were on board.
The ambulance service said they had not been asked to attend to any casualties and had been asked to stand down soon after the crash.
Sources close to the family said they believed Colin and his son had both died.
McRae, the 1995 world rally champion who became known to millions after lending his name to a top-selling series of computer games, is a qualified pilot and regularly flew the helicopter from his home, Jerviswood Farm, just outside the town of Lanark. It is believed he was on his way to Glasgow when the helicopter came down.
McRae is married to Alison and is also father to eight-year-old Hollie. It is understood Mrs McRae – his childhood sweetheart and co-driver in the early days of his career – was away horse-riding at the time of the tragedy and only learned of the news when she returned home at 6.30pm.
McRae was born in Lanark but moved to Monaco in 1995. However, he had recently been spending more time in Scotland to raise his young family.
Strathclyde Police said they received an emergency call at 4.10pm to say a helicopter had come down in a rural wooded area east of the A73 at Lanark, close to the River Clyde.
A spokesman said: 'There is believed to be at least one confirmed fatality, the pilot. An air accident investigation team is on its way but we do not think we will immediately be able to establish how many people were on board or how many bodies there actually are because of the extensive fire damage. It could be some time before official identifications are made.'
Police cordoned off the quiet country lane leading to Mr McRae's farmhouse in the hours after the accident to protect the family's privacy. The driver's aunt collapsed at the cordon after hearing of the accident.
One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: 'It is just an awful tragedy. Colin was a devoted dad and a real family man. He came back to Scotland to give his son and daughter the stability of a Scottish upbringing. He doted on both his kids and his death will be a real blow to a lot of people. He is really going to be missed. Our thoughts go out to his family.'
McRae was regarded as Britain's most successful rally driver of his generation, earning an estimated £3.5 million a year under his contract with Ford.
He started off in the family heating and plumbing business and, despite becoming his global success, used to joke that he still knew enough about the trade to earn a living should his dream career ever end.
The son of five-times British Rally Champion, Jimmy McRae, Colin started his career in 1986, when he drove a Talbot Sunbeam.
His first outright rally victory came in 1988 at the Tweedies Rally near Dumfries. He won the world driver's title in 1995, was championship runner-up in 1996, 1997 and 2001, and came third in 2003.
