Originally Posted by
ChrisVJ
Just thinking that the 'always' search for anything administrative, paperwork, license, etc is important but not looking for the cause of an accident.
The cause here, from the report, would appear to be CO poisoning and/or loss of control and /or pilot inexperience and/or weather..
I always feel that the actual lack of a certificate is not a cause. A pilot may have experience but no certificate or he may have a certificate gained only three or four hours flight time before. It is the lack of experience rather than the paperwork, surely, that is the hole in the cheese.
A couple of times I have been to airshows where pilots boasting that they got their PPL a couple of months before have been giving charity rides to people, even kids. My personal thought is "Are you stark raving mad?" Yes, technically the certificate says you can fly passengers (Non paying) around but other peoples' kids?
Sorry, thread drift for hobby horse.
I totally disagree: the "paperwork" as you describe it, is at the heart of this accident - it is there for a reason, to protect the pilot & anyone in or around the aircraft, from suffering the consequences of any mechanical failure or poor weather; it is not ancillary or immaterial, it's fundamental to why the aircraft crashed - it should never have been doing what it was doing, or flown in the manner in which it was flown, in the first place. The lack of a suitable qualification begs the question as to why - was the pilot not able to attain the necessary qualifications? In which case, why not? There seems to be evidence the pilot was considerably experienced in some aspects of flying; perhaps that experience lulled him into a false sense of security, & a feeling that this experience superseded his lack of qualifications to operate the flight. If that's the case, we're not dealing with someone who could reasonably claim ignorance of the rules or their meaning.
The UK advice for PPL holders offering charity flights is here:
https://www.caa.co.uk/General-aviati...arity-flights/ - I expect that similar advice is offered elsewhere, in which case, pilots who adhere to it are presumed to be mature enough to understand the implications & act accordingly. If you feel that's not happening, perhaps make representations to the appropriate authorities to find out why?
Flying has always been an activity that requires a very clear understanding of the rules: ignorance is no excuse, & if people choose to ignore them, then I'm afraid then they're accountable for the consequences of their actions. In this case, the buck stops with the pilot, & the people who allowed him into the cockpit, & the paper trail will determine who that is.