Hey Guys,
Everyone seems to be mud slinging here. There also seems to be a huge misconception between PPL's and CPL's/ATPL's. Lets not forget that incidents have occurred whilst both/all categories of license holder have been PIC of an aircraft.
Lets set the record straight here a little bit. The main difference between a CPL and a PPL is that the CPL is allowed to use his/her license privileges for the purposes of hire and reward. Although there is a training programme and examinations, that does not necessarily guarantee that the CPL holder is in any way a better, or a more capable pilot, than a PPL.
As I've said earlier, I have at least one friend (in fact two) who are CPL holders and they both have less than 250 hours total time. They simply chose to continue their training to the CPL.
As far as Jeremy Paxton goes, I've met him once and read about him loads. He's certainly an interesting character and in the press regularly. I couldn't possibly comment on his flying ability or attitude, but he is an aircraft owner. I believe he flies very regularly and has 1000's of hours. I would imagine that he has the requisite skills to undertake most reasonable helicopter trips.
Whilst we may not all understand or agree with this scheme, there are obviously schemes in other countries where all forms of assistance from volunteers are accepted. Would there be a problem 'in principle' if I saw an emergency services person running down a flooded street somewhere and offered to drive him in my 4x4 to the other end of it ? I guess not.
Similarly, if a specialist surgeon needed to be transported to an accident site that was inaccessible by road for whatever reason, would there really be any issue with Jeremy transporting him, if no other aircraft were available. Let's not forget that if the surgeon happened to live next door to Jeremy and knocked on to his neighbours house, Jeremy could quite easily land him in a field nearby to the incident without breaking any laws, (save for trespass potentially which is a tort and not a criminal offence) and without flying outside the privileges of his license .
I'm neither for nor against the idea, but I think everyone is getting over excited about the complexities of the mission here. It's sounds to me (regardless of how unlikely the chance of it happening is) that Jeremy would simply be giving someone a lift to the scene of an incident. I would imagine he's quite capable of accomplishing that mission without incident.
Joel
