Originally Posted by
what next
That would be Mr. McKay. It does not matter if he phones the parties involved (the owner of the plane and the pilot who flies it) himself or delegates those calls to his secretary, Mr. Henderson or Donald Duck. If Mr. Henderson, through his connections, gets a better price for the plane it would indeed be a wise move to let him do the talking. As long as the invoice for the plane is paid by him (McKay) as well as the fee for the pilot (in case he has a commercial license). The ultimate responsinbility to perform the flight within the legal frame rests with the pilot in command. I have flown like that for a large company for years. Their lawyer and their insurance people were happy with it. Countless ramp inspectors found nothing wrong with it.
The company you work for, even though they may have delegated authority to someone else, will say that they decided what aircraft to hire and what pilot to hire. They have also informed the insurers as to how the aircraft is being operated.
I have always taken the view that Mckay could have said that he was providing his corporate aircraft for free. However his public statements don't describe that, they describe a charter provided by Henderson.
Now he may be saying one thing in public and another to the investigators. We will have to wait and see.