Originally Posted by
vanHorck
Whatever the legalities, and who arranged what for whom, the outrage is clearly rapidly rising. A non-IR legally licensed private pilot decided to take a passenger (for reward or not) in a piston single during bad weather over very cold seas. Clearly the operator allowed te pilot to use the plane and the pilot decided to execute the flight. This is worse than bad
He was IR(r) qualified or at least he used to be and renewed it for his jump flying activities. He was a seasoned jump pilot and had ferried planes regularly to dropzones across Europe and further afield, typically Dorner G92s , Grand Caravans etc. He was a competent pilot so the speculation about his abilities are totally unfounded as I flew with him on a variety of occasions and he was both professional and competent, including in IMC.