Hi ATC Watcher and parkfell, on first inspection, I totally see your point!
However, the way I see it, in both cases, there is more to it than 2 PPLs going "rogue". Yes, we are not talking BA, Easy or anyone else - but there was more to these two than first meets the eye. There was a far more "professional" perspective to both events - which is why I brought them up as examples of "Western" rule-breaking.
Regarding RM of "Barton Birdwatcher" infamy, a quick scan of Companies House show him as a Director of the ex-Comed Aviation Limited, SICs for Scheduled Air Transport and for Non-scheduled Air Transport from 1982 until 2018. There's even a Comed thread on PPRuNe tho dealing with Flight Training. Comed also had a Bandeirante based at Blackpool (G-ONEW) - as well as a load of other stuff (something like 11 aircraft) again, the subject of another PPRuNe Thread -
Comed Blackpool. Indeed, back in about 2001, Comed Aviation Limited flew scheduled daily flights to Belfast, Dublin and the Isle of Man until Comed went bust -
https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.u...boss-grounded/ ! And there's also Fly Bpl, yet another PPRuNe Thread -
Fly Bpl - Is It The Beginning Of The End???! As you can see, this guy was
not your average PPL cashing in on the unsuspecting "twitchers".
Re the Sala accident, the extensive PPRuNe Thread on that accident (
Cardiff City Footballer Feared Missing after aircraft disappeared near Channel Island ) is there and there is much discussion as to who organised what and in what capacity. In that case, DI was simply the pilot in a wider web of commercial intrigue which saw him "hired(?)" to fly the aircraft by 3rd parties (unclear exactly who did what, when and where - that's all gone a bit quiet). Anyway, those with time to spare can browse all 107 pages of that one. One health warning before you do, there's this blithering idiot called H 'n' H who appears frequently in the Sala Thread!!!!
You have been warned!!!!!
But, you are both correct, both pilots were PPL-holders. Best I blither off