The following story is simply one of stupidity....
Switched-off pilot has wings clipped
15.07.2003
By STUART DYE
A promising young Auckland pilot has been temporarily stripped of his licence after disconnecting safety equipment on a joy-flight with friends.
David Rouse turned off a master switch, disabling important safety indicators needed to warn of the possible onset of engine failure.
He also deactivated the radio, meaning he lost touch with other aircraft using the busy airspace above Auckland.
The Waitakere District Court heard yesterday that the 22-year-old then failed to record his flying time and number of landings so he did not have to pay for full use of the aircraft.
Judge David Mather banned Rouse from holding a licence for three months and described his actions as extraordinary.
"All of this appears to have been with the intention of reducing the charge that would be made for this flight, and the saving to you and your friends looks like it might have been of the order of $200 to $500.
"The fact that you jeopardised your whole flying career for this amount of money is quite extraordinary."
Rouse, holder of a commercial pilot's licence and a Category C flight instructor, took the Cessna 172 from Ardmore Flying School, where he was a member, on February 3 last year.
He flew the four-seater for more than 2 1/2 hours on scenic flights over the Auckland region, landing four times.
When Rouse returned to Ardmore he recorded an hour's flying time, costing $165.
Mark Woolford, prosecuting on behalf of the Civil Aviation Authority, told the court that Rouse waited until he was outside the Ardmore and Auckland City's mandatory broadcast zones.
He then deactivated the time recording meter, which in turn switched off all electrical components within the plane, including the radio, turn and slip co-ordinator, oil pressure, oil temperature and fuel indication gauges.
Rouse, a quality manager, told the aviation authority that he had turned the switch off because the radio was emitting an annoying squelch.
In addition to the licence disqualification, he was fined a total of $700 plus $260 costs for two offences.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to using a document to obtain a pecuniary advantage and operating an aircraft in a careless manner.
His lawyer, Maxine Pitch, said Rouse had already suffered "in a major way."
"His dream has long been to be a pilot and he has been working three jobs to finance his pilot's certificate.
"As a result of being charged, he has had to resign from jobs with Sun Air, Origin Pacific and the Coastguard. He has also been banned from the airfield.
"The New Zealand air industry is a very small industry and the rumour mill has been working. His life is flying. He is very remorseful."
Ms Pitch asked for a discharge as the consequences of a conviction would be "disproportionately severe".
But Judge Mather said: "This is not minor offending, it's potentially serious.
"In this case the consequences were minor in that there was no collision or crash, but the risk is always there."
