Ansett pilot not guilty

[Capt PPRuNe]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Ansett pilot not guilty
01 June 2001

UPDATED REPORT
A former Ansett Dash-8 pilot was found not guilty of manslaughter and injuring passengers today after a jury took almost 22 hours to reach their verdict.

Garry Sotheran, 45, of Christchurch had pleaded not guilty to four charges of manslaughter and three of injuring passengers following an air accident on June 9, 1995.

The crash, in the Tararua ranges east of Palmerston North, killed three people at the scene and a fourth person died later in hospital.

In the High Court at Palmerston North, a jury of seven men and five women retired to deliberate on its verdict at 3pm on Wednesday but returned three times, to ask questions of Justice Gendall and to again listen to the cockpit voice recording.

They also asked to re-hear evidence given by Sotheran about his final approach procedures when attempting to land at Palmerston North.

This afternoon, the judge again called the jury back to enquire about progress.

Resuming deliberations at 9am today, the jury returned at 3.40pm to deliver its verdict.

The verdict followed a trial lasting 26 days and including 92 witnesses and 1000 pages of evidence.</font>

[Mapshift]

Good...people there still realize the meaning of the word "ACCIDENT" let's hope this sets a precedent....unfortunately wouldn't have been that fortunate in America....food for thought

[Rusty A300]

As much as one's heart goes out to the victims and loved ones; I am relieved on his behalf. The burden that this man has to bear is greater than any punishment the court may impose.

[tilii]

And so ends a saga that has put this gentleman through six full years of personal hell. The poor devil! I wonder if there is actually any real joy for him in hearing this verdict.

Who says pilots are underpaid?

[Airbubba]

&gt;&gt;unfortunately wouldn't have been that fortunate in America&lt;&lt;

Can you give a counterexample? For the most part we pilots exempt ourselves from some of the legal aspects of other motor vehichle crashes.

I can't remember an airline crew in the U.S. going to jail for negligent operation or violation of regulations after a fatal accident. However, it happens on occasion with busses and trucks (coaches and lorries).

There have been attempts by local authorities to bring charges against aircrews but the FAA and NTSB always seem to successfully claim jurisdiction. I remember one of the US Airways' crashes at La Guardia where the local District Attorney (was it Giuliani?) tried to have the pilots arrested but was disuaded by the feds.

About the only U.S. airline pilot to serve hard time for reckless operation of an aircraft I can think of was the NWA captain who tested drunk after coming in from Fargo.
The question of local jurisdiction came up again recently when another Northwest pilot tested over the limit after operating a flight from San Antonio. The local authorities were upset that they weren't notified of the positive test results in a timely manner.

[You splitter]

I don't know any of the details of this case so I don't wish to make judgments about this particular accident. If it was a genuine accident then obviously this should never of happened.

However I do believe that if train drivers,truck drivers,ships Capatins and even your managing director could be prosecuted for corporate manslaughter, then why should pilots be exempt?

Only of course if there is a good reason like negligence....

Anway,condolenses to those who lives changed forever,that day.

[Yankee_Doodle_Floppy_Disk]

A copy of the report is available at:
http://www.taic.org.nz/aviation/95-011.pdf

The New Zealand Police currently have a policy of investigating all deaths with a view to laying manslaughter charges. Except when one of their own shoots somebody.

[Mapshift]

Ok-ok there air-bubba don't get your panties in a knot..I am a retired US major airline pilot...to be more specific..if this scenario had occurred in the US, and made it into court...I would be willing to bet the outcome would have been less favorable to the flightdeck crew involved...remember our friendly mayor of NYC regarding the USAir rejected takeoff/overrun incident involving misset rudder trim, and his desire to prosecute the crew for "leaving the scene of an accident"...blah blah blah..it could happen at home...let's not be complacent...live and learn