mr Q
6th Oct 2003, 23:54
NI man in court over sale of plane
(UTV Online)
A man paid almost £18,000 for a plane only to discover it was a flying "death trap" a court heard today
Enniskillen Crown Court sitting in Dungannon heard that an Englishman gave 47-year-old Ian William Burrows £17,950 for the two-seater Kitfox MK4 plane in July 2001 after he was allegedley told it had never been damaged.
However, prosecution QC Andrew Donaldson told the jury of nine men and three women that when it was later examined by an engineer, he found that the plane had "suffered serious damage" and "wasn`t fit to be flown" even though no damage had been recorded in the aircrafts log book, a legal requirement for plane owners.
Burrows, from Dungannon Park on the Moy Road in Dungannon, denies two counts of acting in a manner likely to endanger the plane and people in it and failing to record details of damage or repair in the log book.
Alongside him in the dock is 66-year-old George Adams from Fairlough Road, also Dungannon who also denies two counts of acting in a manner likely to endanger the plane and any passengers and of failing to record damage in the log book.
Adams, a voluntary inspector with the Popular Flying Association, further denies issuing a flight release certificate without being satisfied that it was fit to be flown, with all charges dating between February and July 2001.
Opening the prosecution case to the jury, Mr Donaldson said that in February 2001, Burrows damaged the right wing and other parts of the plane when he was forced to make an emergency landing in a Co Armagh field but that the damage was not recorded in the plane`s logbook.
The lawyer said even though his insurance firm gave him over £11,000 to fix the damage and Burrows decided to fix it himself, "he did not fit a new wing".
Mr Donaldson told the court that on April 7 2001, Adams issued a flight release certificate for the plane, indicating that it was air worthy and fit to be flown.
However, he said that when the engineer examined the plane after it was sold he found "shoddy work" and that "the wing was in such a state that it could`ve disintegrated in flight and there`s only one place a plane can go and that is down".
Mr Donaldson said it was the prosecution case that "Mr Burrows either undertook the work himself and did it in a very shabby fashion or he got someone else to do it in very shabby and incompetent way and further more, Mr Adams, the inspector who was supposed to have checked that, said that it was fine but that simply could not be so".
Both Adams and Burrows gave statements concerning the condition of the plane with Burrows claiming the plane was safe when he sold it and further suggesting that the damage had been caused after he sold it.
Adams also maintained his innocence, claiming that he inspected the plane and was satisfied that it was air worthy.
"The prosecution case is that this was a bad and cheap job which should never have been approved and a man bought a plane that could well have proved to be a death trap," declared Mr Donaldson.
(UTV Online)
A man paid almost £18,000 for a plane only to discover it was a flying "death trap" a court heard today
Enniskillen Crown Court sitting in Dungannon heard that an Englishman gave 47-year-old Ian William Burrows £17,950 for the two-seater Kitfox MK4 plane in July 2001 after he was allegedley told it had never been damaged.
However, prosecution QC Andrew Donaldson told the jury of nine men and three women that when it was later examined by an engineer, he found that the plane had "suffered serious damage" and "wasn`t fit to be flown" even though no damage had been recorded in the aircrafts log book, a legal requirement for plane owners.
Burrows, from Dungannon Park on the Moy Road in Dungannon, denies two counts of acting in a manner likely to endanger the plane and people in it and failing to record details of damage or repair in the log book.
Alongside him in the dock is 66-year-old George Adams from Fairlough Road, also Dungannon who also denies two counts of acting in a manner likely to endanger the plane and any passengers and of failing to record damage in the log book.
Adams, a voluntary inspector with the Popular Flying Association, further denies issuing a flight release certificate without being satisfied that it was fit to be flown, with all charges dating between February and July 2001.
Opening the prosecution case to the jury, Mr Donaldson said that in February 2001, Burrows damaged the right wing and other parts of the plane when he was forced to make an emergency landing in a Co Armagh field but that the damage was not recorded in the plane`s logbook.
The lawyer said even though his insurance firm gave him over £11,000 to fix the damage and Burrows decided to fix it himself, "he did not fit a new wing".
Mr Donaldson told the court that on April 7 2001, Adams issued a flight release certificate for the plane, indicating that it was air worthy and fit to be flown.
However, he said that when the engineer examined the plane after it was sold he found "shoddy work" and that "the wing was in such a state that it could`ve disintegrated in flight and there`s only one place a plane can go and that is down".
Mr Donaldson said it was the prosecution case that "Mr Burrows either undertook the work himself and did it in a very shabby fashion or he got someone else to do it in very shabby and incompetent way and further more, Mr Adams, the inspector who was supposed to have checked that, said that it was fine but that simply could not be so".
Both Adams and Burrows gave statements concerning the condition of the plane with Burrows claiming the plane was safe when he sold it and further suggesting that the damage had been caused after he sold it.
Adams also maintained his innocence, claiming that he inspected the plane and was satisfied that it was air worthy.
"The prosecution case is that this was a bad and cheap job which should never have been approved and a man bought a plane that could well have proved to be a death trap," declared Mr Donaldson.