A witness has described the final seconds before a helicopter plunged through the roof of the Clutha Vaults bar in Glasgow.

After waiting nearly six years for a fatal accident inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the crash that killed 10 people and left 31 injured, yesterday saw the first day of the investigation.

It is being held at Hampden Park in front of Sheriff Principal Craig Turnbull and began with a minute’s silence in tribute to those who died.

Personal statements from family members of some of those who died were read out before witnesses to the crash were called. 

Personal statements about some of those who died were read out in tribute to them.

Kerry McGhee described her father Samuel McGhee as a hard worker who was “very sociable” with “many friends”.

A statement from Colin Gibson’s family said: “If you were lucky enough to meet him, you knew you had as he left a lasting impression on you. Ever since he was a young boy he enjoyed helping people.

He had never visited the Clutha bar before. Colin just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The sisters of Gary Arthur in a statement said: “Nothing will ever bring our brother back but hopefully we will finally be given the chance to find closure. We want to remember Gary as a much-loved person and not just a victim of the Clutha.”

The first witness, solicitor Andrew Bergin, told how on the night of November 29, 2013, he was walking by the riverside when he saw the police helicopter.

The 30-year-old, from Airdrie, said: “As it got [to] 7 o’clock, over my left shoulder it made a spluttering sound. When I first started to watch there was nothing particular about it. I suppose I liked to watch it go past.

“It made what I can only describe as a spluttering noise. It wasn’t any lower than I would have seen it before. The tail of the helicopter dipped and pointed to the ground. Simultaneously, the light on the helicopter went out. It seemed to me the rotor stopped spinning. It was still turning, but not under power.

“It seemed to immediately lose height as soon as the spluttering occurred. Everything happened more or less at the same time.”

Mr Bergin was passed a model helicopter to demonstrate to the inquiry how the aircraft looked. 

He held it with the tail dipping sharply down and spinning in a clockwise motion.
The pilot, two crew members and seven customers in the Clutha were killed.

Pub customers Mark O’Prey, Gary Arthur, John McGarrigle, Colin Gibson, Robert Jenkins, Samuel McGhee and Joe Cusker died, while pilot David Traill and crew Tony Collins and Kirsty Nelis were also killed in the crash.

Witness David McKernan said he was standing in Oswald Street on the night of the crash and saw the helicopter fly over the railway bridge south of where he was standing. 

He saw the helicopter come across the Saltmarket heading towards the Clyde and could hear the rotors but not the engine while “a plume of something” was coming from underneath it. 

The helicopter then disappeared between the buildings, he said.

Taxi driver Tariq Malik, 41, was in Grand Central Mosque’s car park in Ballater Street. 

He recalled how the helicopter suddenly lost power, making “a swooshing sound as it fell through the sky”.

David Newton saw the helicopter from the window of student accommodation in Blackfriars Street. 

The 25-year-old said the helicopter was going 50 to 100 per cent faster than he was used to seeing it travel.

Brian Stewart, 50, also remembered the noise – he compared it to a car “shuddering” as it stalls.

The final witness to take the stand was Ernest Docherty, who was in Glasgow on the night of the tragedy. 

He had finished work at Buchanan Bus Station and was walking to his car, which was parked in the Gorbals. Mr Docherty said he was alerted by a noise like “an 
old car trying to start but 1,000 times louder.” 

The 64-year-old about-turned and took two steps back, and pulled his head into his shoulders as he “thought something was coming down on me.” 

The helicopter was 30/40 feet in the air, Mr Docherty said. It lost more height near the church on the Briggait. 

“It was that fast going down,” Mr Docherty said of the helicopter’s final moments.

The purpose of the fatal accident inquiry (FAI) is to determine the cause of the deaths, establish whether they could have been prevented and enable the sheriff to make recommendations that could prevent fatalities in similar circumstances.

More than 100 people were in the Clutha Vaults in Stockwell Street when the 
helicopter, returning to its base on the banks of the River Clyde, crashed through the roof. 

An Air Accidents Investigations Branch report published in 2015 found two fuel supply switches were off and the pilot did not follow emergency procedures after a fuel warning in the cockpit.

The Crown Office has previously said there is insufficient evidence for criminal proceedings.

A total of 57 Crown witnesses are expected to give evidence at the FAI, down from a previous estimate of 85. 

Police have taken more than 2,000 statements as part of preparations for the inquiry, while the Crown has about 1,400 productions.

The inquiry is expected to involve about three months of evidence spread over six calendar months this year.