In the Australian today (Tue 6 July 2004)
My flight in peril: Dick Smith
Steve Creedy
Aviation writer
Entrepreneur Dick Smith is trhreatening to sue air traffic controller Airservices Australia, claiming a refusal to grant him clearance to fly over Sydney placed his family at unnecessary risk.
Mr Smith wrote yesterday to Airservices acting chairman Les Fisher, asking that tapes of his conversations with air traffic controllers be kept for legal action he is considering against the body.
The entrepreneur and airspace reformer said he was returning from Lord Howe Island in his Cessna 208 aircraft on Friday and asked to be allowed to overfly Sydney at 8500ft (2590m).
He said the clearance was refused and he was forced to descent to a lower altitude over the Tasman Sea where a safe ditching might not have been possible.
"More to the point, rather than be allowed to overfly Sydney at 8500ft, where an engine failure would have allowed me to land on at least one of five possible runways, I was forced to track over the densely populated northern suburbs where a safe forced landing would be highly unlikely," Mr Smith said.
"I am outraged this unnecessary risk was forced on myself and my family for no apparent reason."
Mr Smith said he was planning legal action after checks with commercial operators at Bankstown Airport revealed that Airservices consistenly refused similar requests.
Don't know what Sydney was using at the time or the weather conditions perhaps someone working at the time could shed more light on this.
Dick, instead of spending all that money on lawyers and the legal system, why don't you use it wisely and set up scholarships at flying schools to allow young people to get their PPLs?