The only remarkable thing about Old Heliman`s original post is that the CAA actually had the strength of mind and resolve to proceed with the prosecution. Illegal public transport is a subject against which every AOC operator in the UK is very keen to see the CAA act with much greater vigour and determination. Hitherto, the Authority appears to have been dragging its heels presumably for fear of embarrassing failure in court. At one stage the impression was given by spokesmen for the Authority that unless the offence was committed with CAA personnel actually on board they were powerless to act!
Illegal public transport has wide ranging implications in terms of validity of insurance cover for passengers, property owners along the route not to mention the pilot himself and his dependants. The prospect of posthumous law suits should cause every `freelance` pilot to consider his actions very carefully.
The CAA should be wholeheartedly encouraged to focus their admittedly overstretched resources on the pursuit and prosecution of the perpetrators such as the joker refrred to by Old Heliman.