Police helicopter air chase

[Heliport]

Story from BBC NEWS: Pilot arrest follows plane chase

A police helicopter air chase which ended at Headcorn in Kent has led to the arrest of a pilot on suspicion of people-smuggling.

The National Crime Squad swooped on Friday after the pilot helped ferry people to destinations in London and Kent, a spokesman said. He is suspected of using his light plane to fly illegal immigrants into the UK from Belgium and France. The pilot, eight Turkish passengers and four others are now being questioned.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40340000/jpg/_40340323_plane203.jpg
BBC caption:The six-seater plane was seized pending further inquiries

Police said the plane first landed at Lamberhurst air strip, Kent, just before 0800 BST, where four people were collected by a man who drove them to a restaurant in north London. There the group was met by another man and all six were arrested, a spokesman said.

Officers said the pilot then flew across the Channel from Lamberhurst to collect four more people, who he took back to the Kent air strip, arriving at about 0945 BST.
At this point, police arrested the passengers and two more drivers, but the pilot took off immediately.

Police said the aircraft - a Piper PA-32-300 Cherokee six-seater - was chased by helicopter to Headcorn air strip, where the pilot was arrested and his plane seized.

Chief Inspector Alex Wood said: "We believe the pilot was paid more than £4,000 for each trip he made.
"We suspect he may already have carried out 10 such trips.
"Passengers were charged 10,000 euros (£7,143) each for transport from Turkey to the UK."

Police said further arrests are anticipated.

[Big Tudor]

The RAF were involved in an air chase some years ago now. I believe it was 2 Pumas chasing a civilian Gazelle over the Salisbury Plain area. Drug smuggling, if memory serves.
There were also a number of low flying complaints that night, including one from a retired military type, complaining about the cavalier attitude of todays RAF pilots. The Gazelle was trying to ram the Pumas out of the sky. The pilots cavalier attitude was actually self preservation!

[a is dum]

"The Gazelle was trying to ram the Pumas out of the sky"

Not claiming that you are wrong, and neither have I ever flown a whirlygig but it seems to me that it would take a bit of skill to try and do that against two Pumas! :uhoh:

[Whirlygig]

...and we've never even met - you cheeky young pup ;)

[jayteeto]

The Gazelle was trying to do that, remember gazelles are pretty nippy!!

[Helinut]

Going back to the original post, does anyone know which ppolice helicopter - I am curious because Kent does not have a police helicopter

[Flying Lawyer]

I'm open to correction but I think the South East Regional Police ASU covers the Metropolitan, Surrey and Kent police areas.

[airborne_artist]

have the BBC lifted a pic of a PA32 from http://www.billinsair.freeserve.co.uk/aircraft2.htm, or is that the actual a/c involved?

The BBC pic is "remarkably" similar to the one on the site, which could be tad embarrassing to the owners, if it's not the one.

[Old King Coal]

I’ve got say that I'm surprised that we don't see more of this stuff going on ( assuming that this is what was going on ). After all, the countryside is littered with quiet and / or disused airstrips ( indeed there's one not five miles from where I live that’d be perfectly adequate for the task ) and ditto on the other side of the English Channel. There's certainly a demand, and it’s seemingly pretty lucrative too, e.g. if this chap suposedly carried out 10 such trips, at the above suggested price, that’s £40k – and you could easily do 10 trips across the Channel in, say, 3 days - which makes it a good little earner, so long as the rozzers don't catch you ! :eek:

I wonder if he was claiming the fuel draw back too ?! ( if is there still such a thing in the 'United States of Europe' ? ).

Ps. ( hence the edit ) You can use the CAA's G-INFO (http://www.caa.co.uk/srg/aircraft_register/ginfo/search.asp) database system to locate registration details for G-BRNZ ( as per the aircraft picture shown on the BBC News link ) though it's not clear if this is the actual aircraft involved.

If you place your cursor over the photograph in the BBC link, it says 'The plane seized as part of an alleged people-smuggling operation'

[Helinut]

FL,

Thanks for the suggestion. However, SERPASU ceased to exist on 1 April this year, when Surrey set up their own ASU covering Surrey. It never did cover Kent though. The MetASU now covers the Met and City Police.

I was interested because whoever did this job in Kent may give some idea of how Kent will jump in the future. The old Chief Constable did not favour Air Support, and it was only borrowed off everyone else when it was unavoidably needed. The new CC may have different ideas and plans.

[Flying Lawyer]

Helinut
Thanks. Learn something every day - well, I try to anyway. ;)


airborne_artist
G-INFO, the CAA database, may not be up to date but it doesn't show BillinsAir as the owner.

Later reports say the arrested pilot comes from Camberley.

[jayteeto]

I hope the heli pilot was a class one driver or else the FIM will be very upset!!!

[SilsoeSid]

I know that this guy is in enough cr@p as it is ,but as.....
Chief Inspector Alex Wood said: "We believe the pilot was paid more than £4,000 for each trip he made.
.... I hope this geezer had a commercial licence, if any.:{

[WhirlyGirl Sarah]

.... I hope this geezer had a commercial licence, if any

Well if he did, he ain't got one anymore...! :uhoh:

Does anyone know how long this chase lasted? Did the heli just follow the plane to the strip or do you think the pilot knew he was being chased and tried to lose the heli?

I have never heard of this type of "air chase" before! Do they happen often?!

WGS

[FloaterNorthWest]

I believe Kent has an arrangement with Surrey for ASU support during planned operations or major incidents.

I have heard talk in the industry of Kent getting a Police helicopter in the future. It was also suggested that it be a combined Police/Hems operation but I think this unlikely seeing as the Kent Air Ambulance Trust has more than enough money.

[Lou Scannon]

If, following due process this pilot is found guilty, he could be out of the job market for some time.
CBJ is still at the start of his 35 years for that incident with the white stuff at Southend.

[MD900 Explorer]

Correct me if i am wrong, but hasn't the Sussex ASU drifted across into Kent a few times? :confused:

MD :ok:

[Helinut]

Over the years, Kent has begged or borrowed Air Support from almost all its neighbours and even further afield. It has also got major event organisers in Kent to provide a helicopter for police work from commercial sources. It needs its own; I wonder why it has not gone to Customs and Immigration for a contribution too, given its location. The latest event is a case in point really.

[Droopy]

Give it time. A recent change of chief constable might just make all the difference.

[Flap 5]

Another one? The Home Secretary has been busy!!

[MightyGem]

"The Gazelle was trying to ram the Pumas out of the sky"

A gazelle rammed a Puma out of the sky in N Ireland a few years ago...or maybe it was the other way around. :eek:

[Thud_and_Blunder]

Not funny, MightyGem.

As for the RAF SD Flt Puma vs the Gazelle - which ended up in a clearing (in woodland alongside the A303) well-known to AAC pilots - the Gazelle was subsequently recovered on a one-trip-only basis by a "prize crew" from Odiham. The transmission system was completely sh*gged - don't know what prize money if any was ever recovered, or where it went.

[BoeingMEL]

National news and teletext announced this afternoon that the pilot and several others have been charged with smuggling several people into the country. Pilot named as Mr Wyatt Anderson no less! His website lists his licences as FAA and UK PPLs and he quotes " love flying anything, private or commercial"

'Spose that includes fare-paying passengers?

bm

[Jarvy]

Kent looking at getting own helicopter as current chief constable in favor. Kent do borrow from its neighbours and pay by the hour.
I'm guessing this was part of a bigger op and therefore planned well.

[Windle Poons]

For "police helicopter" it may be better to read, "...helicopter used by police." Certain police units/squads are much more likely to hire or borrow an aircraft than use one with "Police" written down the side.

Now where were all those 109's on the day in question?

WP ;)

[Flying Lawyer]

This seems to have been a National Crime Squad operation, not Kent Police.

[paulo]

Not much fun for the other owners in the group.

Does anyone know what happens in this scenario, re: group owners title on the aircraft? I'm assuming that if it's just a partnership, then you're all equally liable for each other's actions and therefore potentially stuffed?

[airborne_artist]

Wyatt is listed as a trustee of the flying group (bet they wish they hadn't trusted him now....)

I expect that the aircarft will be impounded as evidence pending the trial, and that assuming a conviction for the alleged offences, CPS and or Kent Constabulary will ask the judge to confiscate the a/c.

Flying Lawyer may have a view as to whether the other partners in the group have a claim over Wyatt, but I guess that depends upon the partnership agreement they should have had in place. Any decent lawyer should have drafted an agreement that foresaw such a situation, particularly as
I see that the a/c is/was being offered for hourly rental (http://www.aircraftrentals.co.uk/Complex.htm)

[SilsoeSid]

When the police arrested this guy, did they use this line ? (http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/Sounds/your.wav) (contains monty pythonal swearing)

http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/aircraft/flypig7.gif

[pistongone]

It would appear the pilot was caught by the radar's used to protect the nuclear power station at dungeness. Apparently the army have been responsible for this work since the terror risk assessment deemed coverage in that area to be woefully inadequate.