Pilot gets 3 years for Coventry Airport helicopter attack

[LTN man]

A pilot who flew a helicopter at an air traffic control tower, a month after the Semptember terrorist attacks in the US, has been jailed for three years.
Air traffic controllers at Coventry Airport watched as Shaun Lees flew the Bell Ranger straight towards them before pulling up just yards away, Warwick Crown Court heard.

Jailing Lees, a 41-year-old engineer from Warwickshire, Judge Marten Coates said on Friday it was "practically an act of terrorism".

The judge said Lees' actions had been particularly frightening because they took place on 12 October last year - a month and a day after the 11 September terror attacks in the US.

"There was a feeling in the country at large and in the world at large of what had gone on a month before.

"I have got to pass a custodial sentence on you. I have a public duty to do so.

"Anybody seeing those events would have no choice," he said.

Lees, from Chatsworth Drive, Nuneaton, was jailed for endangering the safe operation of the airport, a charge which he had admitted at a previous hearing.

He had also admitted damaging the airport's glide path monitoring aerial, which helps aircraft land.

Adrian Keeling, prosecuting, told the court Lees was using the helicopter to mount a protest against the airport manager, Peter Jackson.

He had been banned from using Coventry Airport the month before, after his medical certificate expired.

As Lees hovered the helicopter at the airport, landings and take offs were aborted.

Staff in the control tower described Lees making an "incoherent" rant as he hovered before them.

Mr Keeling said: "They honestly thought they faced injury or even death."

Lees eventually landed on the glide path monitor damaging it and was arrested as he ran to a nearby air club.

Graham Cliff, defending, said Lees effectively "snapped" when Mr Jackson allegedly refused to talk to him when he first landed on the apron.

"He should not have done it, but that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"To say the timing of his protest was bad is an understatement. He realises that, more than anybody else"

[flickoff]

Hopefully he will never get his ticket back when he comes out of jail. There is no place in our skies for braindeads like this.

[Tom the Tenor]

Flickoff, There but for the grace of God go anyone of us...

[DB6]

Tom, speak for yourself old bean. The bloke sounds like a bit of a bamstick to me. There are other ways to make a protest if you don't want to go to jail. I mean, it's not as if no-one was going to see him,is it?

[AerBabe]

According to the local news, this was about his airport security pass... not his medical certificate?! Doesn't matter which, still not the most sensible way to protest!
I also heard that his licence was 'suspended'... he's not going to get it back is he? :eek:

[ORAC]

Fuller report from the Times:

Helicopter terror pilot is jailed for three years
By Oliver Wright

A PILOT who deliberately flew his helicopter at an air traffic control tower just a month after the September 11 terrorist attacks was jailed yesterday for three years.
Shaun Lees directed his Bell Jet Ranger towards air traffic controllers at Coventry Airport and announced over his radio: “You are going to see the very worst of my flying.”

He then “buzzed” the control tower, at times pulling up just 30ft away and forcing incoming flights to be diverted.

Jailing Lees, a 41-year-old engineer from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, Judge Martin Coates told him that what he had done was “practically an act of terrorism”.

“An aggravating feature of it was that it all took place just a month after those dreadful events in New York,” he said. “I have got to pass a custodial sentence on you. I have a public duty to do so. Anybody seeing those events would have no choice.”

Warwick Crown Court was told that Lees had decided to stage a protest against Peter Jackson, the airport manager, using the helicopter, which he had chartered from another airfield. Adrian Keeling, for the prosecution, said Lees had been banned from Coventry Airport a month earlier after his medical certificate had expired, which meant he was unable to get a security pass.

On the morning of the incident, Lees landed on the runway as two private aircraft, one bound for the United States and the other for Italy, were preparing to take off.

Lees had told the tower that he wanted to refuel, but then said he wanted to talk to Mr Jackson, who walked over and told him to leave or face being escorted off. Lees took off again, but hovered at the intersection of the two runways, forcing an incoming Cessna to pull up short as it landed.

At that point, Mr Keeling said, the airport was effectively shut down. Two aircraft due to land were forced into a holding pattern which meant that the pilot of one plane had to issue a low fuel warning.

As the US-bound aircraft began to taxi on to the runway, Lees turned to face it, hovering about 200 yards away. The pilot saw the manoeuvre as an intimidating gesture and aborted the take-off; his passengers disembarked. Lees told the tower that he wanted to talk to Mr Jackson about their dispute and flew towards the control tower, where Mr Jackson had joined about four air traffic control staff.

Staff described Lees making an “incoherent” rant as he hovered before them; they became alarmed when his tone changed, Mr Keeling said, adding: “They think he said something like, ‘I have had enough’. The nose dipped, the engine sounds were heard to speed up and the helicopter moved straight at the tower.”

When Kevin Lynch, a fellow pilot and friend, was called to try to intervene, Lees told him: “I can see the whites of Mr Jackson’s eyes.” An emergency evacuation was ordered as Lees continued to “buzz” the tower, at times pulling up about the length of the two rotor blades from it. He eventually landed on the glide path monitor, causing damage of about £15,000 and putting it out of action for several weeks.

He was arrested as he ran to a nearby air club. Because of the ordeal, one experienced radar operator had since been unable to return to work, while others had taken long sick-leave absences, Mr Keeling told the court.

Mr Jackson, a commercial pilot with 30 years’ experience, had suffered continuous sleepless nights since the events.

Mr Keeling told the court: “Mr Jackson and his staff in the tower thought the helicopter was about to ram them. They honestly thought they faced injury or even death.”

Lees had previously admitted endangering the safe operation of the airport as well as damaging the airport’s glide path monitoring aerial, which helps aircraft to land, for which he was not given any separate penalty.

Graham Cliff, in mitigation, said the incident had shattered Lees and his family, and he had been unable to work and was receiving treatment for post-traumatic stress. He had spent a considerable amount of money training to be a pilot and was considered by fellow flyers to be highly competent.

The problem over Lees’s medical certificate had in fact been resolved by September 11, and Lees was angry that he was still barred from the airport.

[Unwell_Raptor]

This was sentenced very properly. The underlying problem is more to do wirh psychiatry than flying.

[ATCO Spouse]

I am the wife of one of the ATCO's involved in the incident at Coventry Airport. I have never taken much interest in this site, but feel compelled on this occasion to pass comment.

My husband and I have been together for 26 years and aviation, be it flying, controlling, reading about etc. has been his life, man and boy.

The incident on October 12th has not only possibly ruined his career (20 yrs an ATCO) but also but a huge strain on our family life. My husband now finds it difficult to go near an airport terminal or tower, is still suffering from horrendous nightmares and is suffering severe depression, partly due to the prospect that his lifelong career may have been destroyed by this one man's 'moment of madness'.

For the likes of those thinking along the lines of 'Tom the Tenor' I can only say that I hope you are never on the receiving end of such an incident. I have not experienced anything like this before, it is extremely frightening watching your loved one struggling to come to terms with what has happened and the way in which it has affected him.

I don't expect sympathy and violins, but wanted to try to explain from first hand experience, the consequences of Mr Lees actions.

[AerBabe]

Very very sorry to hear of your husband's, and family's suffering ATCO. I hope that in due time he will be able to return to work, and that life will return to normality. The controllers at CVT, and at all the other airfields, do a great job, and it's a shame that one person can disrupt the lives of so many. Best wishes to your family.

[A and C]

I,m verry sorry to here that the actions of this idiot have had such dire effects on one of the coventry controlers who has been such a help to me over the years , I can only wish him a speedy recovery and hope that the idiot has a long and unplesant stay in prison.

[maxalt]

Well if that idiot has enough money to pay for 'joyrides' in a Jet Ranger (maybe he even owns it?) then I sincerely hope that Mr. and Mrs.ATCO sucessfully sue him for every sodding penny he has. Maybe that'll ground him for good.

[flickoff]

Tom the Tenor, are you a nutter too? I cannot believe anyone could say that unless they were. This **** was totally out of order. There is no mitgating circumstance that could posisbly give any validation to this blokes actions, If you think it was ok for him to do what he did on the basis that "don't shout to loud 'cuz one day you might do it" where do you draw the line. Would it be ok for a concorde pilot to do a mach one beat up of EGLL control tower one sunny bank holdiday because he was a bit pissed of with the management? Of Course not. as pilots we all sign up for the law abiding saftey first thingy. If this man's command of the english languauge was so poor he felt the need to express himself by chucking a helicopter at the ATC staff, he should be in a nut hut not a prison!

[Twistedfirefighter]

Tom the Tenor,

Do please reply to the previous poster, because you too might be a dangerous dipstick at this stage as your post stands. Hurry up.

[Tom the Tenor]

I refuse to be intimidated by the like's of you, Twistedfirefighter. Go bully somewhere else! I am not an apologist for this guy at Coventry. It is that there is a thin line between carrying on sort of rationally and becoming nuts and people succeed and fail at this every day.

[BRL]

Back to the point please or this gets booted........... No ifs, no buts... Ok.? :mad:

[CAHLIBAHN_MK2]

I don't think we have strayed from the point. Tom the Tenor (if I understand him) has raised the possibility that this man Lees was suffering from some sort of mental illness. He (Lees) certainly wasn't very rational that day at Coventry....

[BRL]

CAHLIBAHN_MK2
I am just nipping it in the bud before it gets out of hand. We all know how things like this can go off all over the place. My real point is that we have Mrs Atco explaining in great detail how this has affected her husband. This is her first post and she is probabley checking back to this thread to see what is being said. What i dont want her to see (or anyone else) is the way us so-called 'professionals' going off subject and slugging it out with each other. That will not do on this forum. As i say, just getting a grip to prevent the slagging that goes on occasionally.

[formationfoto]

There may be a thin line but being on the wrong side of it places you in the 'shouldn't have a licence' category. There is no excuse for this sort of behaviour being acceptable. If you believe that you are likely to be in a similar situation then hand back your licence now, do us all a favour, and accept that you simply shouldn't be flying (assuming you are).

Mental illness, if this was the case here, is very sad but that doesn't mean that we should all rush round and say that this person couldn't help himself, should be given a 'get out of jail free' card, and sent on a course of improving himself through state sponsored helicopter rental. Come on.

I don't go for hanging and flogging but when people pursue this beheviour I am all in favour for sending them to an uninhabited island where they can tilt their rotors at a rock face and endangour only themselves not other aviators, the control tower staff, and the reputation of the private flying community.

Sorry that this thread is being cut short - there are some valid points here.

[Aussie Andy]

Hi all,

I read the story in the Times yesterday absolutely aghast. What this fella apparently did was absolutely awful. Not only scaring the living daylights out of the people in the TWR but also delaying two outbound and causing diversion of some inbound flights as well.

Whatever caused the guy to become so upset cannot justify what he did, and I feel sure that many who like me are able to enjoy our hobby thanks to the work of ATCOs around the country will join me in expressing sympathy and concern for "ATCO" & "ATCO Spouse" et al.

I'm also sympathetic to the moderator on this occasion... just because someone (apparently in Ireland?) who is perhaps not fully aware of the details shot off a perhaps ill-considered comment and hasn't the grace to back-down, we should be careful not to go overboard with the "flaming" and be satisfied that the matter has been decided in a court of law, and that justice has been decided there where the facts would hopefully have been given a full hearing.

[Whipping Boy's SATCO]

The priveledge to fly an aircraft is just that; this person has abused that priveledge and, in doing so, upset, worried and assaulted various individuals.

[niknak]

The worrying thing is, in 24 years of avaition I've met several individuals who are more than capable of doing this sort of thing, but I would never be able to prove it.
Perhaps part of the pilots medical examination should be some form of phsycometric testing to weed out people like this, I appreciate that it wouldn't be 100% perfect, but at least the ground work would of started.

[Loc-out]

Was Mr Lees the owner of a Helicopter business at Coventry Airport in the past?

[Vlax]

Unfortunately I agree with NikNak, from personal experience, but I think ATCO’s should also be tested!
At least it would start a base line to work from.:(

[E cam]

I reckon it would be a fair assumption that the airport manager gave him a raw deal and that he had a genuine cause for complaint. I mean, you don't do **** like that for nothing, do you?

[Standard Noise]

ATCO SPOUSE - as an ex-Cov ATCO, you have my sympathy. I don't think I met your husband as I left before he arrived, but I have heard from several friends still working there, that this has been shattering for your family.

I have been told that the Airport Manager had previously been very abrupt with Lees. Lees became angry and a very unpleasant and frightening situation occurred, one which has had far reaching consequences for both you and your husband.
However, I don't believe that Lees is in any way mad, at least not in the clinical sense. More likely he is one of those people who go off at the deep end when things don't go his way. He deserves no sympathy from anyone in aviation and thankfully he has been locked up.

Personally, I don't think three years is enough for what he did as I'm with the "Flogging and hanging's too good for them" Party. Hopefully he will not be released early, but he will probably turn out to be a model prisoner, and be out within 18 - 24 months. That unfortunately, is how our perverse justice system works and we have to live with it.

Please ignore the half baked comments of some of the pruners, but you will find that most of us are glad that Lees is now in jail, and that since the legal aspects of the case have now been resolved, you and your family can hopefully get back to some semblance of normality.

Good luck.

[Wee Jock]

Vlax,

NATS ATCOs are psychometrically tested.

[Genghis the Engineer]

A shocking abuse of the privilege of holding a license. I have no idea if the CAA or the legal system have the ability to permanently withdraw the right to hold a pilots license, but if they can, in this case I'd say they should. Presumably since it's possible, for example, to ban somebody from owning a dog, similar laws can be called into force.

As to legal action, I suspect that Mrs SATCO and her husband are probably entitled to only very little if anything from the criminal injuries fund. Many of us have criticised the current trend to litigation, myself included. But, in this case if Mr and Mrs SATCO were to take civil action against Lees, I for one would applaud. Perhaps even some of us here who are aviation professionals could offer assistance in such an action. With any luck, this would have three consequences. Firstly to compensate the SATCO family for their trauma and Mr SATCO's entirely understandable inability to work, secondly to ensure that Lees never again has enough funds to fly anything more dangerous than a kite, and finally it will show the world that as aviators we will look after our own, both in terms of supporting those damaged through no fault of their own, and in punishing the irresponsible.

G

[BDiONU]

Having read all of the posts in this thread I am absolutely stunned and appalled that there are those who consider that this action was acceptable behaviour.
I hope that none of those who publicly condone this man's actions are on the receiving end of another persons display of 'anger'. I think you'll find your tune considerably changed then.
It is to be sincerely hoped for that Lee's licence is revoked for life, he is obviously incapable of responsible behaviour.

[virgin]

Take3
Frightfully pompous post old chap -- but who are "those who consider that this action was acceptable behaviour."
Nobody has said anything of the sort.

:confused:

[BDiONU]

Virgin:
Terribly sorry if I seemed frightfully pompous to you old bean. But if I interpret Tom the Tenor and E Cam's posts correctly then they both appear to condone such behaviour.
I have personally been involved in an aircraft coming through the tower where I was working (in adition to numerous 'incidents' in my 28 years in ATC) and it caused me Post Traumatic Stress Disorder involving nightmares for about 12 years afterwards, as well as physical damage. Not an experience I can recommend.

Pip pip old fruit!

[Hairyplane]

It is in theory possible for somebody never to act as pilot in command again on the simple basis of not being able to pass a medical.

I know of a student pilot who, 25 years ago decided to descend on the downwind leg to nought feet and buzz the motorway traffic.

He got nicked when he landed and thereafter failed at every attempt to renew his medical for pschycological reasons.

In his case, he waited until recently to reapply - his CAA file must have been lost because he now has a medical again (keep your heads down in Kent guys!)

So - on the basis that no AME will issue, and surely no one will insure him - he will not fly again as a pilot.

Rehabilitation of offenders is OK in law but we are talking about a medical problem here. The helicopter pilot clearly suffers from a jammed head occasionaly so shouldn't be allowed to fly. Ever.

[Rod1]

I have to say I have found a lot of the comments on this very depressing.

I wholeheartedly agree the man was an idiot, and deserved everything he got. However am not a psychiatrist. It seems to me that screaming “ban him for life” when all we know about him are his actions for a few minutes is very harsh.

I hope he eventually gets rehabilitated and I hope he gets the right treatment to solve his problem. He has another fifty or so years left, do you want him to “burn in hell” for all of them.

I also hope the people he frightened recover too.

[virgin]

Rod1
Good post. But not much chance of getting your point across to all the armchair psychiatrists who are more than happy to form such strong views on so little information. :rolleyes: