AN eyewitness has described the final seconds before a helicopter plunged through the roof of Glasgow's Clutha bar.

After waiting nearly six years for a probe into the circumstances surrounding the crash that killed 10 people and left 31 injured, today saw the first day of a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI).

Held at Hampden Park in front of Sheriff Principal Craig Turnbull, yesterday began with a minute's silence to those who died.

Statements from family members of some of those who died were read out before eyewitnesses to the crash were called.

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

The 30-year-old, from Airdrie, said: "As it got 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 that the rotors 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 Clutha FAI how the aircraft looked.

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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 on Oswald Street on the night of the Clutha 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 told the FAI.

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

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

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

The 25-year-old told the court 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 at the Gorbals.

Mr Docherty told the inquiry he was alerted by a noise like "an old car trying to start but 1000 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.

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Mr Docherty described how he thought the aircraft would come down on the Briggait but it went past the church tower "and went down".

"It was that fast going down," Mr Docherty said of the helicopter's final moments.

The purpose of the 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 at the Clutha Vaults pub when the helicopter, returning to its base on the banks of the River Clyde, crashed through the roof.

An Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB) 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.

Low cloud breaking up to bring a bright day with some sunshine at times. Some cloud building up across the west but staying dry. Maximum temperature 13 °C.

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

Police have taken more than 2000 statements as part of preparations for the FAI, while the Crown has around 1,400 productions.

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