Cardiff City Footballer Feared Missing after aircraft disappeared near Channel Island
"He told me he had a commercial licence and i had no reason to disbelieve him given the other work he was lnown to be doing...obviously as PIC it would then be his duty to ensure the safe conduct of the flight and i gave him no pressure to do otherwise.."
a. The criteria for arrest may not have been met, i.e. the police believe that you may have been involved in the matter under investigation but have insufficient evidence to carry out an arrest.
b. They are aware that the investigation may be lenghty; almost certainly so in this case: and wish to avoid the obligations placed upon them when dealing with persons under arrest.
If it was considered on the evidence available that any charges were likely to arise from contraventions of the ANO then it is quite likely that the voluntary route would have been adopted. This would have been infuenced by the fact the that investigating body would have been the CAA and all interviews carried out by them are voluntary, although under caution and recorded.
It would be reasonable to assume that given the facts available to them the police decided to investigate the matter as manslaughter and thus provided that the evidential test was met made and an arrest before proceeding with a standard interview. It is possible that the arrest may have occurred after an initial voluntary attendance at the police station and following a voluntary interview. However if that was the case I would have expected to see some reference to the process in the police statement.
None of the above implies guilt on the part of the arrested party. Evidence to justify arrest is of a different standard to that required to lay charges. The police may arrest to further efficient investigation, gather and preserve evidence, which they will have to disclose in the event of charges being laid. We do not know how far down the inestigative route they have gone.
YS
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Yellowsun, not entirely accurate I'm afraid.
The grounds to arrest need be no more than a suspicion an offence has been, or is about to be committed.
However, in order to arrest the Police have to satisfy themselves that there is a necessity.
That may be to prevent harm/ damage or loss,
prevent further offences, prevent interference with a witness etc, to prevent disappearance, to allow for a statutory power to be enforced ie samples being taken or to allow for prompt and effective investigation.
The grounds to arrest need be no more than a suspicion an offence has been, or is about to be committed.
However, in order to arrest the Police have to satisfy themselves that there is a necessity.
That may be to prevent harm/ damage or loss,
prevent further offences, prevent interference with a witness etc, to prevent disappearance, to allow for a statutory power to be enforced ie samples being taken or to allow for prompt and effective investigation.
The thing is maybe its true. I know many like to adopt positions on the moral high ground but just maybe he really was assured the pilot was qualified and that pilot suggested he would actually pay towards the flight.
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Arrest : Formal process to collect evidence which may lead to charge, trial and use of evidence .
The person arrested may have been previously been interviewed informally, ie on a voluntary basis.
Nevertheless the law is most concerned that there should be reasonable grounds for arrest, as the person is detained in police custody for a defined period of time and therefore loss of liberty is involved. Arrest and custody by police is never a pleasant experience, especially for those who have no previous experience of it.
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Voluntary basis : Assisting police with their inquiries.
Arrest : Formal process to collect evidence which may lead to charge, trial and use of evidence .
The person arrested may have been previously been interviewed informally, ie on a voluntary basis.
Nevertheless the law is most concerned that there should be reasonable grounds for arrest, as the person is detained in police custody for a defined period of time and therefore loss of liberty is involved. Arrest and custody by police is never a pleasant experience, especially for those who have no previous experience of it.
Arrest : Formal process to collect evidence which may lead to charge, trial and use of evidence .
The person arrested may have been previously been interviewed informally, ie on a voluntary basis.
Nevertheless the law is most concerned that there should be reasonable grounds for arrest, as the person is detained in police custody for a defined period of time and therefore loss of liberty is involved. Arrest and custody by police is never a pleasant experience, especially for those who have no previous experience of it.
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Be lucky
David
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Plenty meaningful if one happens to be invited to have a bit of a chat with the CID at the local cop shop, would have been my thought. Especially if you had been asked to bring along your mobile phone and lap top,ipad and maybe a few bank, credit card statements, and the like, also. And if the answer to every little question is an innocent "no comment", the chances are the next visit is likely not to be a friendly invitation.
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Plenty meaningful if one happens to be invited to have a bit of a chat with the CID at the local cop shop, would have been my thought. Especially if you had been asked to bring along your mobile phone and lap top,ipad and maybe a few bank, credit card statements, and the like, also. And if the answer to every little question is an innocent "no comment", the chances are the next visit is likely not to be a friendly invitation.
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Like many people, I have been following this with mixed opinions.
From the pilot’s perspective the pressure on Ibbotson whether self-induced or external to do this flight must have been immense. Most of us have experienced this uncertainty to fly or not fly. And I feel some empathy for him in this respect. Balanced against this is that he must have known he was going to find this flight very uncomfortable, outside of his licence privileges and probably outside of his flight experience? Anyone suitably qualified who flies the pressurised P46 aircraft would never ever have flown this trip as low as he did. It would have been a simple climb to altitude under an IFR clearance and similarly an IFR recovery at Cardiff. Hence my assessment that pressure to do this flight must have been substantial as he must have known it was going to be one of those flights that would cause, at best, significant pilot anxiety.
Moving to the organisers, the recent arrest of an alleged organiser for “Manslaughter by an Unlawful Act” was one that seems to have generated some scepticism about the CPS likelihood of a successful conviction? I didn’t know what Manslaughter by an Unlawful act meant. So I looked on the CPS web site. It seems to come down to relatively few and simple tests
What has to be proved to show this; I quote from CPS web site
“The offence is made out if it is proved that the accused intentionally did an unlawful and dangerous act from which death inadvertently resulted”
So was the act of the organiser(s) both criminal and dangerous? Criminal possibly if the organiser(s) accepted any form of fee and knew about Ibbotson’s lack of CPL, IR, night rating, lack of valid currency etc etc. And surely any charter organiser would know these details for any pilot he chose to fulfil a trip? If he didn’t that too would present an organiser in a very bad legal light.
Then was it dangerous? And “danger” has just to be the opinion of a “sober and reasonable bystander” not what the opinion of the accused was. This looks like it would a much easier test to demonstrate. Who on this forum would stand up and say this flight was safe even without the benefit of hindsight?
I think the chances of a successful prosecution outcome may be higher than others have said......
From the pilot’s perspective the pressure on Ibbotson whether self-induced or external to do this flight must have been immense. Most of us have experienced this uncertainty to fly or not fly. And I feel some empathy for him in this respect. Balanced against this is that he must have known he was going to find this flight very uncomfortable, outside of his licence privileges and probably outside of his flight experience? Anyone suitably qualified who flies the pressurised P46 aircraft would never ever have flown this trip as low as he did. It would have been a simple climb to altitude under an IFR clearance and similarly an IFR recovery at Cardiff. Hence my assessment that pressure to do this flight must have been substantial as he must have known it was going to be one of those flights that would cause, at best, significant pilot anxiety.
Moving to the organisers, the recent arrest of an alleged organiser for “Manslaughter by an Unlawful Act” was one that seems to have generated some scepticism about the CPS likelihood of a successful conviction? I didn’t know what Manslaughter by an Unlawful act meant. So I looked on the CPS web site. It seems to come down to relatively few and simple tests
What has to be proved to show this; I quote from CPS web site
“The offence is made out if it is proved that the accused intentionally did an unlawful and dangerous act from which death inadvertently resulted”
So was the act of the organiser(s) both criminal and dangerous? Criminal possibly if the organiser(s) accepted any form of fee and knew about Ibbotson’s lack of CPL, IR, night rating, lack of valid currency etc etc. And surely any charter organiser would know these details for any pilot he chose to fulfil a trip? If he didn’t that too would present an organiser in a very bad legal light.
Then was it dangerous? And “danger” has just to be the opinion of a “sober and reasonable bystander” not what the opinion of the accused was. This looks like it would a much easier test to demonstrate. Who on this forum would stand up and say this flight was safe even without the benefit of hindsight?
I think the chances of a successful prosecution outcome may be higher than others have said......
The interesting thing is that the factors that made it illegal (apparently flying for pay without a CPL) and the factors that appear to have led to the crash (pilot lacking both relevant experience and instrument qualification) aren't quite the same.
In simplistic terms the reason this accident happened was the reluctance of the pilot to turn back and wait for the weather to improve.
Given his lack of night flying ability he should never have taken off.
They could have night stopped in Guernsey or Jersey and and arrived in Cardiff the next day.
The same applies to this accident .
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-46820519
Gethomeitis.
No Monday job is worth dying for on a Sunday afternoon.(Or in this case a Thursday morning)
Running out of fuel, taking short cuts across high terrain, getting caught in severe turbulence,or just entering cloud without qualifications or experience are all simple reasons why we consistently see intelligent people killing themselves.
It is all down to planning and pilot skills.
Given his lack of night flying ability he should never have taken off.
They could have night stopped in Guernsey or Jersey and and arrived in Cardiff the next day.
The same applies to this accident .
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-46820519
Gethomeitis.
No Monday job is worth dying for on a Sunday afternoon.(Or in this case a Thursday morning)
Running out of fuel, taking short cuts across high terrain, getting caught in severe turbulence,or just entering cloud without qualifications or experience are all simple reasons why we consistently see intelligent people killing themselves.
It is all down to planning and pilot skills.
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Question is now, what level of awareness or involvement did the organiser(s) have in both of these factors?
.....
The same applies to this accident .
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-46820519
Gethomeitis.
........
The same applies to this accident .
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-46820519
Gethomeitis.
........
All this thread points to the Sala flight breaking all sorts of rules as well as common sense from the outset and, as Albatros123 points out, most people question a range of aspects linked to the flight even before departing on the fateful Cardiff trip. Most would agree that the flight, as planned and based on crew quals/experience, quite apart from seeming to be illegal, was an accident primed to happen or, certainly, to be of “high risk”.
Having known Dave Hocking in the past, and who was so sadly involved in the Spanish accident, I’d suggest he and Simon may well have been genuinely caught out by something. I hope we can see an accident report as it will at least be some good to come out of their sad loss. Was it even something as simple as VFR converted to IFR with a mis-set altimeter leading to CFIT? Was the suspected Alternator issue a factor, particularly as Dave ran an Engineering business? Or did that lead to complacency? As a glider pilot as well, Dave would have been well aware of the risks of ridges, especially at low level. Or did that lead to complacency? Arguably, there are probably far more useful lessons to come out of Spain to prevent a repeat.
Yes, the end result is two pilots (and their pax) found themselves flying into the ground (either CFIT or uncontrolled) but it’s how they ended up there which is, I suggest, where the difference is significant. Gethomeitis? Certainly a huge factor in the Sala crash, possibly in the Spanish crash. I hope we see a Report for the latter.
But, whatever the cause, may all 4 Rest in Peace. H ‘n’ H
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I think there was another factor at play here which was fear of being found out. It is purely supposition but I think they were flying on autopilot up until the moment that ATC asks them for notification if unable to remain clear of cloud. I think at that point the autopilot is switched off to manoeuvre around cloud and the loss off control occurs. If they had disregarded ATC and continued on autopilot, assuming that Ibbotson had enough knowledge to use the boots and anti ice, they may well have survived.
I said this at the beginning, anyone involved in the procurement of Ibbotson for this flight, knowing that it would depart after dark was acting in a way that is so reckless that they must surely face a charge of manslaughter. There was much debate in the beginning as to whether Ibbotson knew that he was expected to fly the return in the dark or only found out on the day. There was clearly communication between the parties occurring on the day, it will be interesting when we discover if the forces of law and order have any records.
I said this at the beginning, anyone involved in the procurement of Ibbotson for this flight, knowing that it would depart after dark was acting in a way that is so reckless that they must surely face a charge of manslaughter. There was much debate in the beginning as to whether Ibbotson knew that he was expected to fly the return in the dark or only found out on the day. There was clearly communication between the parties occurring on the day, it will be interesting when we discover if the forces of law and order have any records.
de minimus non curat lex
As Henderson was an experienced pilot, he would know (although unlikely to admit willingly) that an AOC operator was the only lawful way to fly Sala to & from France.
The TIMES had reported ( alleged ) that Henderson had done a number of flights for Cardiff football club. Their regular pilot? That also raises some interesting questions as to these arrangements. Did Cardiff have their own aircraft and Henderson was the company pilot? Was he qualified even for that?
No doubt when the Inquest is held all will be revealed, unless of course the CPS decide to charge anyone in which case the Inquest will be delayed until the criminal process is completed.
Off topic: the law changed following Lord Lucan 'disappearance' in 1974 when the Inquest for the nanny announced his guilt without a criminal trial first.
The TIMES had reported ( alleged ) that Henderson had done a number of flights for Cardiff football club. Their regular pilot? That also raises some interesting questions as to these arrangements. Did Cardiff have their own aircraft and Henderson was the company pilot? Was he qualified even for that?
No doubt when the Inquest is held all will be revealed, unless of course the CPS decide to charge anyone in which case the Inquest will be delayed until the criminal process is completed.
Off topic: the law changed following Lord Lucan 'disappearance' in 1974 when the Inquest for the nanny announced his guilt without a criminal trial first.
Whats going to more interesting is how this case might be prosecuted in that will they look at the pilot qualification to conduct his private flight (in which case what duty of care does any 3rd party have to check such qualification?) Or will there also be a focus upon cost sharing and how any reasonable defence that it may have made that element legal.
After all aside from financial transactions providing a trail - which ultimately i suspect will be key. But absent of which you suggest to a potential pax that he might give Bloggs a call to make a trip and it goes wrong essentially because he flew at night and into IMC has little to do with paying 1% or 50% or his legality to fly an N registered aircraft. It might have been reasonable for the 3rd party agent to expect the pilot not to fly in IMC or Night given his ability to survive 2000+hours before....
After all aside from financial transactions providing a trail - which ultimately i suspect will be key. But absent of which you suggest to a potential pax that he might give Bloggs a call to make a trip and it goes wrong essentially because he flew at night and into IMC has little to do with paying 1% or 50% or his legality to fly an N registered aircraft. It might have been reasonable for the 3rd party agent to expect the pilot not to fly in IMC or Night given his ability to survive 2000+hours before....