Thanks for the various replies Ged. I have never worked in Kununurra but have been involved in GA in the surrounding regions.
I have also plied my trade about the world and been a junior pilot in NZ, Africa and the Pacific regions. As a LAME/ Chief Engineer in many other parts of the world I have also seen first hand how some of these companies end up trying to operate.
We can all see you have been through hell and back. Not one person on this forum has knocked your name, - I think to the contrary you have attracted much admiration for your approach.
I realise the media reporting and even the court events may not be entirely accurate as we view them.
You were a brave man taking that task on and I now realise you had little support in your role. My experiences have been that the Chief Engineer is not beyond laying down the law... to any within yelling distance. That would be junior pilots, Chief Pilot, Ops Manager, owner and even the regulators.
You at Alligator were missing that vital back-up.
There will be many young pilots reading this. There will also be others in GA that will also be learning and hopefully relating events to their own personal circumstances. Something positive has to come out of this mess.
Many of the NZ'ers here will remember United Aviation at Palmerston North.
For me this is a major case of deja vu. Their demise was in 1997 and was brought about with the loss of a Baron and pilot.
The accident/death/Police/manslaughter scenario is very real...... some here have been through the process before. Some more than once.
I believe you were lucky to have been spared that on 28th April.
The Australian regs are not the easiest in the world, the regulators perhaps not the friendliest or most helpful about.
If nothing else there is an industry protocol and most companies and participants within the industry can live with that.
My plea here is to get across to inexperienced pilot's that you are not engineers... You have no knowledge, or right, to declare a U/S aircraft fit for flight.
The system is there for everyone's safety. The video is a classic example of what can happen when things do go off the rails.
That one flight cost many people a lot of money.
It could have been a whole lot worse.