Airtours pilot suspended for Parker Pen Logbook
 

Just been announced on local North West TV news that an Airtours pilot has been suspended pending an investigation by the CAA into irregularities with the number of hours logged in his/her logbook.

Airtours claimed that the pilot was not unsafe but had been suspended from duty while the investigation was taking place. The CAA became involved after an allegation was made that the pilot had claimed experience that had never been flown.

Any other members of the Parker bin Pen tribe had better start worrying as it is about time the CAA actually had a crackdown on this sort of attitude.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.com...ry=02full.html

Not good.

Thesaurus:

Not good if proven correct. I'm with you on that one.

Is Parker bin Pen like Sharp Pencilling?

Dunhovrin, for a fuller explanation go to the pprune home page at http://www.pprune.org and from the list on the left choose Humour and then from the index page choose The Caravan which is a potted history about the formation of a famous middle eastern airline.

And Loss Of Licence should promptly follow if proven guilty!

I hope David Learmount has been misquoted. "Terrifying"? Hardly... the guy has passed all the exams and flight checks, so he is obviously competent.

Doesn't excuse the practice of claiming more hours than you have flown, of course. Chap deserves all he gets, if guilty...

Not sure about that, RD. I think I could paint you a scenario which would be fairly terrifying where a pilot has passed all exams and checks, but hasn't anything like the experience required for a command on a modern jet.

ANyway, did I read the article correctly? This guy is aged only 30, is ex-mil, yet feels he has the need to hurry up his career sufficiently to get a command that he allegedly resorts to lying and fraud? What is he on? Calm down - you'll get there. Now you'll never be trusted if you're proved to be a liar and a cheat.

It looks to me as two parties are worthy of comment here:-

Firstly did the regulators check his log books in detail or were the figures taken at face value? What else can they do when a guy presents himself at the front desk with apparently totally legal details of his flying career? More than likely they are totally blameless.

What is strange is that it has only just come to light. How did it actually surface?
Was the guy told to bring all his log books in for a "routine check"? Can't ever remember that happening where I work!

Apparantly,whilst on a command course dude claimed to have flown on ... squadron.However the chap he was telling the story to also flew on ... squadron and didn't recognise him.OOps time for a sharp exit!

Folks, please humor a non-aviator. Assuming an individual would complete his log book in a believable fashion- how would he be checked upon, cross refrenced and caught? I am assuming that either the number of hours added piqued somebody's interest- but how?

Call me old fashioned, but whatever happened to integrity?

A very reasonable question, OldAg54. It is the easist thing in the world to falsify the flying hours in a logbook -but very difficult indeed to get away with it for a sustained period. Aviation is an extremely small world and if the hours claimed in a logbook don't look right then people start asking questions and checking up. This is taken very seriously by airlines and the authorities. It is very rare but does happen.

If a pilot is shown to have made false claims, it is not just a matter of ending his flying career but a prosecution by the CAA and prison sentence.

"Fast Jet Pilot" my arse. He was an Air Traffic Controller, allegedly.

Before I'm harangued by that admirable breed of men and women, I should have thought people would respect him more for spending his own money and persevering in getting his licences, thus achieving success in 2 careers.

Nevertheless, he won't be missed.....especially by the cabin crew !!

I hereby unpublish my previous vitriol.
The problem is that we all find these kind of allegations immensely frustrating. This is a forum for your opinions, the truth I am afraid can only be found through investigation of the facts.

I blew off a bit of steam on this forum and was quite rightly critised for this. This is freedom of speech. Sorry if a few egos were chafed.

What evidence do we have that journalists feed off this site. The only negative journalism I have ever seen about flight crews was the BA Boozy night stop docu-soap.

[This message has been edited by Bored Cheese (edited 28 March 2001).]

I am not a lawyer, but I have seen cases of (non-aviation) CVs which have been padded. What seems like a bit of gamesmanship to some people becomes 'obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception' once the law gets involved. That is a form of theft and is no help to the next CV. It is treated seriously by the Courts. If there are safety implications, such as there must be in aviation, then the consequences might be very serious indeed.

I gained many of my hours in America and they are all genuine and verifiable.

How come a military pilot is alleged to have falsified records and you twist things to have a slanderous pop at self-improvers?


[This message has been edited by PPRuNe Towers (edited 27 March 2001).]

I'm with you Toledo, and Scallywag sounds like he has a good grasp of the situation.

Hard working, determined pilots, from all backgrounds, will be shaking their heads in disbelief tonight, not only about this sad situation (if proven), but at Bored Cheese's ignorant posting.

[This message has been edited by homer j (edited 27 March 2001).]

Hey Scallywag, how are those shiny appendages man !

Our company had a case of 'Bic Airways'a few years ago, he to was a 'Officer and a Gentleman' I think he was padding the hours for command. He was invited to leave. Now all log books are scrutinised before joining and certainly before command assesment.