Colin McRae's five-year-old son is believed to have been aboard the helicopter which crashed yesterday afternoon killing everyone aboard.

Jean Eric Freudiger, McRae's agent, said the former world rally champion had been at the controls when the aircraft plunged from the sky just 200 yards from his 17th century mansion.

Also aboard were McRae's five-year-old son Johnny, an adult school friend of McRae and another child.

Emergency services said the twin engine squirrel had burst into flames when it hit the ground in Jerviswood, Lanark.

Eye-witnesses said they watched as the aircraft, which appeared to be flying normally, just dropped from the sky.

The weather had been overcasts with winds gusting to 30 knots.

McRae, 39, who became world rally champion in 1995, leaves a wife and a nine-year-old daughter.