N531EA could be being used for illegal public transport but we don’t know that. It could be that the owners are very generous and have a lot of mates that they fly around for free.

That will be Jason Bannister who runs a well known and much advertised oak furniture business then

As someone with a foot in both camps, I do find it somewhat ironic that the medical profession is frequently exhorted to learn safety lessons from the aviation sector (such as the recognition of the importance of Human Factors, and the existence of CHIRP, in particular). Of course, a licence to practice medicine does not include a category equivalent to the PPL (or LAPL or NPL, whatever they might be), so a comparison with the commercial aviation industry is altogether more appropriate, the excellent CHIRP GA Feedback notwithstanding.

The General Medical Council (equivalent to the CAA, I guess - certainly in terms of its level of fees!) maintains both a General Register and Specialist Register (overseeing the equivalents of CPL, IR, ATPL and Type Ratings, I guess - but not requiring regular Medical Certificates, curiously). As in aviation, however, there are always the outliers (frauds with bogus qualifications, and those who push the envelope of their licences, such as GPs offering a sideline in minor cosmetic surgery) but, by and large, the SLF equivalent can be pretty confident that an NHS medical practitioner is, at least, competent. A practitioner wishing to work in the private sector will find it exceedingly difficult to do so without phenomenally expensive medico-legal insurance cover.

Meanwhile, the aviation sector is awash with “grey ops”, and has been for as long as I can remember. As one of the first cohorts of wannabee FIs to need a BCPL for a role that previously, and subsequently, demanded only a PPL, I was not best pleased initially, but quickly came to realise how much better a pilot, and therefore an instructor, this additional knowledge and experience made me; I subsequently went on to gain a CPR/IR, purely for reasons of self-satisfaction.

As such, I was not infrequently approached to act as front-seat freight on single-pilot charters, in order to give the illusion of redundancy to the SLF, who tended to expect two bodies up front. Rarely was I type-rated on the aircraft concerned; sometimes, I’d never even have set eyes upon one, and was able to contribute little more to the flight than changing the squawk. It was fun when I was younger, although I did rapidly became bored with hanging around in LSGG, Frankfurt or wherever until the SLF had concluded whatever business was so important as to preclude a commercial flight. My final such trip was a scud-running VFR flight home from Brussels, when even sensible pigeons had grounded themselves voluntarily. No surgeon would have risked his licence, let alone his life, when the evidence base clearly demonstrated the degree of risk involved. That must have been around 30 years ago now; thereafter, whilst I’ve relinquished the left-hand seat to many a low-hours student, admittedly in the knowledge that I could always assume control myself if necessary, I have never again done so to a “professional” with whose qualifications and experience I was not personally familiar.

That the circumstances which, in 2019, have led to the death of an individual of great footballing talent, but with no appreciation of the shortcomings of aviation regulation and oversight, have been allowed to continue unchecked, is, in my view, wholly disgraceful.

Well now you can throw away your AOCs, you don’t need them any more.

According to Forbes.

The scenario is this: An important client of your company calls and says "We have ridden on your jet before, and now we urgently have to get to a team out to a site where there has been an accident, and we would like to use your aircraft to get us there tonight instead of waiting for the airlines; we shall pay for the flight, can we use your jet and go?"

Of course you want to help out a valuable client that is in dire need, especially as you feel that it will further cement your relationship with them, but after a call to your legal department you are now unsure whether you can agree to your clients urgent request.


Your ‘legal eagles’ are happy about the liability issues being ‘no-problem.’ This is because you carry more insurance than you really need because of the regularity in which clients and other non-employees are flown on your aircraft. Also even though the trip will be at the request of another, your company will be in complete operational control of the aircraft and therefore it is the same as you and your own people being on board. The issue that bothers your legal team is the assertion by the client that ‘we (he) will pay for the flight.’ So what is the issue of payment that they are citing here? Well, you operate your aircraft under cfr 14, FAR part 91 operating rules. You do not have an Air Operators Certificate (AOC) under part 135 and therefore you cannot charge the client for the flight as you will be breaking the law.

Well actually ‘Au contraire mon amis’, because you can legally charge for the use of your aircraft by another person or entity as long as you write a very simple ‘Time Sharing Agreement’ and then refer to the following provisions in the Code of Federal Regulations (cfr) Title 14: Aeronautics and Space, Part 91 - General Operating Flight Rules, Subpart F - Large and Turbine Powered Multiengine Airplanes and Fractional Ownership Program Aircraft, Rule Number 501, sub-paragraph C (1), which states:





A time sharing agreement means an arrangement whereby a person leases his airplane with flight crew to another person, and no charge is made for the flights conducted under that arrangement other than those specified in paragraph (d) of this section.... Which further states ....(d) The following may be charged, as expenses of a specific flight, for transportation as authorized by paragraphs (b) (3) and (7) and (c)(1) of this section:

(1) Fuel, oil, lubricants, and other additives.

(2) Travel expenses of the crew, including food, lodging, and ground transportation.

(3) Hangar and tie-down costs away from the aircraft's base of operation.

(4) Insurance obtained for the specific flight.

(5) Landing fees, airport taxes, and similar assessments.

(6) Customs, foreign permit, and similar fees directly related to the flight.

(7) In flight food and beverages.

(8) Passenger ground transportation.

(9) Flight planning and weather contract services.

(10) An additional charge equal to 100 percent of the expenses listed in paragraph (d)(1) of this section.

Now you know for certain and you can make the happy call to your client.

With

Just for the sake of accuracy, Sala’s agent is actually Meïssa N'Diaye through his company Sport Cover. It is Sport Cover that setup the Go Fund Me appeal to restart the search, now standing at €321,700. Sport Cover itself donated €20K.

Mark McKay was an ‘intermediary’. According to the Telegraph agent’s fees are £2.5M, presumably split between N’Diaye and McKay.