Light aircraft drug smuggling
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Light aircraft drug smuggling
I'm spending my Friday catching up on some reading, which includes the August AAIB Bulletin. I've particularly noticed the report into a PA28-161 which crashed killing the pilot on Feb 8 2005 near Horsmonden in Kent on a return trip from Belgium.
The report is well written, and sums up to "competent PPL, but got out of his depth, CFIT in low cloud". A thorough bit of reporting by AAIB, which is worth reading.
Then I noticed that at the end of the "history of the flight" is the line...
"Found amongst the contents of the aircraft were large quantities of Class C drugs and Tobacco".
So our man was doing some private enterprise in a rented club light aircraft. AAIB note that he seems to have planned to make a short stop on the way home at a farmstrip before continuing to clear Customs at Shoreham. What a surprise!
I wonder to what extent the unofficial cargo was a factor in his failure to make a diversion, and also whether there's anything in the public domain about what I'm sure was a police investigation, even if no mention of this is made in the AAIB report. AAIB have sort of alluded to this by referring in the conclusions to "His apparent desperate desire to land at Old Hay contributed to his poor decision making processes in the later stages of this flight".
I'm just being nosey, but interesting 'innit! Maybe just for once, I'm a little less sympathetic than I could be to the victim of a light aircraft accident.
G
The report is well written, and sums up to "competent PPL, but got out of his depth, CFIT in low cloud". A thorough bit of reporting by AAIB, which is worth reading.
Then I noticed that at the end of the "history of the flight" is the line...
"Found amongst the contents of the aircraft were large quantities of Class C drugs and Tobacco".
So our man was doing some private enterprise in a rented club light aircraft. AAIB note that he seems to have planned to make a short stop on the way home at a farmstrip before continuing to clear Customs at Shoreham. What a surprise!
I wonder to what extent the unofficial cargo was a factor in his failure to make a diversion, and also whether there's anything in the public domain about what I'm sure was a police investigation, even if no mention of this is made in the AAIB report. AAIB have sort of alluded to this by referring in the conclusions to "His apparent desperate desire to land at Old Hay contributed to his poor decision making processes in the later stages of this flight".
I'm just being nosey, but interesting 'innit! Maybe just for once, I'm a little less sympathetic than I could be to the victim of a light aircraft accident.
G
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Depends what the drugs were.
Maybe he was a pharmacist and could buy them cheaper on the continent than in the UK......
Maybe the tobacco was for personal consumption.
Maybe without elaborating, the AAIB should not have mentioned this in the report.
Just my point of view
Maybe he was a pharmacist and could buy them cheaper on the continent than in the UK......
Maybe the tobacco was for personal consumption.
Maybe without elaborating, the AAIB should not have mentioned this in the report.
Just my point of view
Better red than ...
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Class C drugs isda ganjga.
However, do customs actually check anything? This is a wide open door in national security for bringing ANYTHING in.
Or for that matter, taking it out ....
However, do customs actually check anything? This is a wide open door in national security for bringing ANYTHING in.
Or for that matter, taking it out ....
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eglishal,
Personally, I believe that it WAS appropriate for the AAIB to mention the contents of the aircraft, as a possible contributing factor to the circumstances surrounding this tragic accident. It's up to the rest of us to draw any conclusions from the facts laid before us.
We can only guess at the forces which motivated this pilot to act in whatever way they did. 'Apparent desperate desire' may well cover some personal circumstances that the rest of us can be thankful not to encounter.
Genghis, imagine the scenario where someone was desperate for the cash to pay for a life-saving operation for their son or daughter - not saying this was the case, but it would maybe modify the lack of sympathy.
All of those of us responsible for the hiring and operating of group or club aircraft owe it to ourselves, our other members and the light aircraft community at large to make sure our aircraft aren't used for illegal purposes. If nothing else, don't give our insurers the excuse to refuse to pay out!!!
No, I haven't seen anything about a Police investigation. It's possible that in view of the circumstances, that they won't be persuing the case.
Cheers,
The Odd One
Personally, I believe that it WAS appropriate for the AAIB to mention the contents of the aircraft, as a possible contributing factor to the circumstances surrounding this tragic accident. It's up to the rest of us to draw any conclusions from the facts laid before us.
We can only guess at the forces which motivated this pilot to act in whatever way they did. 'Apparent desperate desire' may well cover some personal circumstances that the rest of us can be thankful not to encounter.
Genghis, imagine the scenario where someone was desperate for the cash to pay for a life-saving operation for their son or daughter - not saying this was the case, but it would maybe modify the lack of sympathy.
All of those of us responsible for the hiring and operating of group or club aircraft owe it to ourselves, our other members and the light aircraft community at large to make sure our aircraft aren't used for illegal purposes. If nothing else, don't give our insurers the excuse to refuse to pay out!!!
No, I haven't seen anything about a Police investigation. It's possible that in view of the circumstances, that they won't be persuing the case.
Cheers,
The Odd One
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Has anyone here ever been challenged on arrival.
I have been on numerous private flights to/from France, Holland and Ireland and have never had the contents of my baggage, my passport, or my pilots licence checked.
I have been on numerous private flights to/from France, Holland and Ireland and have never had the contents of my baggage, my passport, or my pilots licence checked.
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I think that by mentioning "Class C" drugs they should have elaborated.
True, ganga is Class C. So are certain tranquillisers such as temazepam and valium, which licensed pharmacists can supply. You can also possess them legally if you have a valid prescription.
Now if the report had said "A quantity of cannabis" then it would be a different matter.....I just think that reports like this should be accurate and concise, rather than wishy washy and vague.
True, ganga is Class C. So are certain tranquillisers such as temazepam and valium, which licensed pharmacists can supply. You can also possess them legally if you have a valid prescription.
Now if the report had said "A quantity of cannabis" then it would be a different matter.....I just think that reports like this should be accurate and concise, rather than wishy washy and vague.
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Class C drugs are pretty much of equal effectiveness (barring a few exceptions), so it's a bit strange that it should be even mentioned. The point that he was so desperate to get to a specific airfield in IFR conditions that he had a CFIT ties in with delivering a load of ganja, but then that's not really fair either - as English Al says, it could've easily been Valium.
Maybe the AAIB are telling us to draw our own conclusions? I suppose in the end it doesn't matter, the pilot's dead and the ganja/Valium/baribituates are smoked (pun intended).
I suppose if you're transporting goods for profit (not stated I know) you'd need a CPL - maybe that's another angle.
Maybe the AAIB are telling us to draw our own conclusions? I suppose in the end it doesn't matter, the pilot's dead and the ganja/Valium/baribituates are smoked (pun intended).
I suppose if you're transporting goods for profit (not stated I know) you'd need a CPL - maybe that's another angle.
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Has anyone here ever been challenged on arrival.
As for me I just pretended I wasn't with Bletchleytugie
Having read the report I have to say that the mention of the discovery of Class C drugs in the wreckage by the AAIB was remarkably restrained and "just about right".
Would any of you out there not agree that, had he flown from Belgium via Dover to Shoreham direct, then he would not be alive and kicking today?
Why did he take off from an airfield which was closed? Why did he manage to ignore a request to sign in and sign out with his details? Why did he fail to activate his flight plan on the radio? Why was he so hell-bent on landing at a strip which was nowhere near his direct routing and at which an attempted landing in fog was extremely dangerous and, in this case, fatal. (No Cat IIIa at Old Hay nor in his PA28).
Of course we are expected to make the connection between his cargo and his accident. That one sentence in the AAIB report says it all.
If one single one of you out there (who might belong to the naive way of thinking) can give me another logical reason as to why this chap was prepared to die trying to do the impossible rather than continue to his supposed destination and make a safe landing then I would love to hear it.
PS. A chap I once worked with tried to do a similar trick with a 707 at Southend and is now a guest of HM for about 20 years.
PPS. Has anyone else made the connection between "Old Hay" and "marijuana"?
Would any of you out there not agree that, had he flown from Belgium via Dover to Shoreham direct, then he would not be alive and kicking today?
Why did he take off from an airfield which was closed? Why did he manage to ignore a request to sign in and sign out with his details? Why did he fail to activate his flight plan on the radio? Why was he so hell-bent on landing at a strip which was nowhere near his direct routing and at which an attempted landing in fog was extremely dangerous and, in this case, fatal. (No Cat IIIa at Old Hay nor in his PA28).
Of course we are expected to make the connection between his cargo and his accident. That one sentence in the AAIB report says it all.
If one single one of you out there (who might belong to the naive way of thinking) can give me another logical reason as to why this chap was prepared to die trying to do the impossible rather than continue to his supposed destination and make a safe landing then I would love to hear it.
PS. A chap I once worked with tried to do a similar trick with a 707 at Southend and is now a guest of HM for about 20 years.
PPS. Has anyone else made the connection between "Old Hay" and "marijuana"?
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Special Branch have told me that they had been waiting specially for the man, at Shoreham as per his flight plan, following a tip-off.
This sort of thing is dreadful news for GA.
The only positive thing about this is that he was flying a G-reg aircraft and not some other reg.
This sort of thing is dreadful news for GA.
The only positive thing about this is that he was flying a G-reg aircraft and not some other reg.
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Would any of you out there not agree that, had he flown from Belgium via Dover to Shoreham direct, then he would not be alive and kicking today?
What was the Shoreham weather at the time? I am sure one can get historical METARs somewhere...
Better red than ...
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Would ATC ignore an a/c entering the FIR and not flying direct to a customs field?
The only place in the UK I have ever seen any police/ special branch/ security activity (on GA turf) is Oban, where PC MacBeth and his 2 special branch colleagues appear to follow you about as you have lunch in the wee toon.
As to entering the FIR and not routing direct, would London Info even see them ???
This is an insecure country compared to many (the French will check your passports & quite right too)
h-r
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Allegedly in the bad old days when Ireland really was run by the Pope, it was not uncommon for small aircraft to land here from foreign, Godless places, laden with illicit condoms.
Before my time of course:-)
Before my time of course:-)
You might well not have seen SB or even C&E activity - but that doesn't mean that it doesn't go on.
A while ago, Plod asked me to drop by. It seems that C&E had noted an a/c with a stated destination actually going elsewhere, then disappearing off radar. This seemed, as they say, worth a pull......
What had happened was that they thought the pilot had said that the a/c was going to 'Woodford' - and were then surprised to see it head off across Northamptonshire only to vanish near Wittering.
The mystery was solved when I told them that I knew the pilot's destination - it was the disused aerodrome 'Woolfax (Lodge)' where the pilot had permission to leave the a/c from the landowner! Plod and C&E both happy bunnies.
I guess the reason for the interest was that this was the era of 'raves' - and not long afterwards they made a large seizure and a number of arrests at a local aerodrome where a drug-peddling low-life was importing his filth into the UK from Europe. Got the ba$tard - well done team!
A while ago, Plod asked me to drop by. It seems that C&E had noted an a/c with a stated destination actually going elsewhere, then disappearing off radar. This seemed, as they say, worth a pull......
What had happened was that they thought the pilot had said that the a/c was going to 'Woodford' - and were then surprised to see it head off across Northamptonshire only to vanish near Wittering.
The mystery was solved when I told them that I knew the pilot's destination - it was the disused aerodrome 'Woolfax (Lodge)' where the pilot had permission to leave the a/c from the landowner! Plod and C&E both happy bunnies.
I guess the reason for the interest was that this was the era of 'raves' - and not long afterwards they made a large seizure and a number of arrests at a local aerodrome where a drug-peddling low-life was importing his filth into the UK from Europe. Got the ba$tard - well done team!
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Would ATC ignore an a/c entering the FIR and not flying direct to a customs field?
ATC, of course, have no knowledge of whether the appropriate form has been submitted to the Customs colleagues. Indeed, they may not even be 'controlling' a GA flight in the open FIR.
However, as noted by other posters, lowlifes are caught by other means - often intelligence and investigation, but sometimes weather...
As for:
Having read the report I was more interested in the fact that GPS data was heavily relied on in ascertaining detals of the flight. Strikes me there is a touch of hypocrisy up on high.
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There is more than one "Power that Be", and they don't necessarily all think the same.
Whilst some parts of CAA may have reservations about GPS, AAIB (a totally separate organisation) love it, and are masters of the art of telling where you've been from the remnants of a smashed handheld GPS. I did a course there once where we were taught how to do our best to ensure that such a unit was handled so as to give their boffins the best chance of reading it.
G
Whilst some parts of CAA may have reservations about GPS, AAIB (a totally separate organisation) love it, and are masters of the art of telling where you've been from the remnants of a smashed handheld GPS. I did a course there once where we were taught how to do our best to ensure that such a unit was handled so as to give their boffins the best chance of reading it.
G