Whether or not there were issues with the aircraft, to my understanding, from the claims made on Australian Story, Barry Hempel should not have been flying with a fare paying passenger.
To achieve this (providing a commercial operation), Barry Hempel did not act alone. I understand someone else held the AOC he operated under, and someone else was named last night as Chief Pilot at the time. There may have been someone else (receptionist?) who took bookings / money.
Surely others within the organisation knew? At the very least, surely the CP knew the status of one of his pilot's medical / CPL / recency / F&D?
I watched the show last night, and it certainly appeared as though the Yak flight had been offered by the AOC holder, but it is misleading to promote such flights in that way.
In fact, the Yak could not legally do a 'joy flight', although it might well have been authorised for 'adventure' flights. If it was so authorised, an AOC was NOT necessary, it was NOT a 'commercial operation' and NO Chief Pilot was required either. However, an authorisation from Warbirds should have been provided based on a declaration about who would be doing the flights and who would take responsibility and how.
Also, one of the regulated safeguards for 'adventure flights' is that the passenger must be warned about the risks
before paying for the flight.
Wonder if any of that stuff happened?