Chopjock;
Breakfast feeding time is it !
Are you under the impression that all pleasure flights must be classed as public transport and require an AOC?
If the passengers have paid to be carried, Yes.
Referring to all the reports on the incident, there is no mention that the passengers that were to be carried were friends of Mr Dunn, or anything that leads us to believe this was nothing other than a pleasure flight, that any reasonable person would think would have been paid for.
http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk
Ron Doe, 70, witnessed the crash as he waited to be picked up for a flight in the helicopter.
Mr Doe, who is from Brighton but was on holiday in Torbay,...
Perhaps H500 could possibly tell us this was not the case?
If not, I will refer to the CAA Publication, linked above, about Illegal Public Transport Flights, where it says;
However, if any passenger has paid to be carried, the flight is classed as public transport, and is illegal unless the operator holds an AOC.
Oh, and you may also have read;
It is important to note that the contributions can include methods of payment other than money, e.g. free advertising or payment in kind.
Though the vast majority of flights - particularly to, within and from the UK and EU - are operated in accordance with an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) which is a legal requirement, there are unscrupulous operators who choose to circumvent the system. It is very much in passengers’ interests to avoid being carried aboard illegal flights. Compliance with the higher safety standards demanded of AOC holders is expensive but any short-term cost advantage to the passenger in lower fares can so easily be outweighed should any accident or incident occur.
However if H500 can tell us that this would not be classed as a Public Transport Flight, then I will wind my neck in, apart from asking where we can get these free pleasure flights from!