Pilot in Shoreham (UK) Hunter Crash Charged with Manslaughter

Sorry. I'm terminally thick.
What rules/laws did he violate to be charged with manslaughter?
 
Sorry. I'm terminally thick.
What rules/laws did he violate to be charged with manslaughter?
IANAL, but it's "manslaughter by gross negligence", a subspecies of involuntary manslaughter. According to the AAIB investigation the pilot entered the loop too low and too slow and used less than maximum thrust, which I assume is what is being regarded as "grossly negligent". I believe that in the US this would be called "criminally negligent homicide".

I'm not competent to comment on the legal merit of the case!
 
IANAL, but it's "manslaughter by gross negligence", a subspecies of involuntary manslaughter. According to the AAIB investigation the pilot entered the loop too low and too slow and used less than maximum thrust, which I assume is what is being regarded as "grossly negligent". I believe that in the US this would be called "criminally negligent homicide".

I'm not competent to comment on the legal merit of the case!


Thanks.
 
Also realize manslaughter cases are more common in some places in the world than others. It’s generally a method of passing the liability buck downward away from insurers.

The crew of the Continental Airlines DC-10 that lost parts on the runway just prior to the fateful takeoff and subsequent crash of Concorde were wanted for arrest for manslaughter charges also.

Story is that they were told NOT to fly any flights into the country or they’d have been arrested the second they stepped off of their aircraft.

Company kept them well away from Europe altogether is what I heard.

Whether true or not, I can’t confirm. That’s just what I heard.
 
Also realize manslaughter cases are more common in some places in the world than others. It’s generally a method of passing the liability buck downward away from insurers.

The crew of the Continental Airlines DC-10 that lost parts on the runway just prior to the fateful takeoff and subsequent crash of Concorde were wanted for arrest for manslaughter charges also.

Story is that they were told NOT to fly any flights into the country or they’d have been arrested the second they stepped off of their aircraft.

Company kept them well away from Europe altogether is what I heard.

Whether true or not, I can’t confirm. That’s just what I heard.

It wasn't the pilots that got in trouble. It was the mechanics that used a piece of titanium to improperly repair the thrust reverser that were charged. The plane ended up at World Airways.
 
It wasn't the pilots that got in trouble. It was the mechanics that used a piece of titanium to improperly repair the thrust reverser that were charged. The plane ended up at World Airways.

Fair ‘nuff. I had heard it was the flight crew. I thought it was the front ring around the engine nacelle that fell off though?

Ahhh. My airline trivia is slipping I guess. Oh well.
 
It wasn't the pilots that got in trouble. It was the mechanics that used a piece of titanium to improperly repair the thrust reverser that were charged. The plane ended up at World Airways.

The strip closed the expansion gap between the inlet ring and nacelle IIRC.

It was the correct part and placement. A few of the rivets attaching it to the nacelle had sheared off. The mechanic used pop rivets and red RTV to reattach it, which obviously was not an approved repair method.
 
From Wikipedia:

  • After reaching takeoff speed, the tyre of the number 2 wheel was cut by a metal strip (a wear strip) lying on the runway, which had fallen from the thrust reverser cowl door of the number 3 engine of a Continental Airlines DC-10 that had taken off from the same runway five minutes previously.[30][31] This wear strip had been replaced at Tel Aviv, Israel, during a C check on 11 June 2000, and then again at Houston, Texas, on 9 July 2000. The strip installed in Houston had been neither manufactured nor installed in accordance with the procedures as defined by the manufacturer.[BEA 12]
In the end, charges were dropped.
 
For what I've heard and seen, most European countries file criminal charges in almost every death that can be attributed to someone, even in accidents. Its just how their system works.
 
From Wikipedia:

  • After reaching takeoff speed, the tyre of the number 2 wheel was cut by a metal strip (a wear strip) lying on the runway, which had fallen from the thrust reverser cowl door of the number 3 engine of a Continental Airlines DC-10 that had taken off from the same runway five minutes previously.

I found a diagram and photo that confirmed the strip was part of the reverser cowl. Thanks for the clarification.
 
For what I've heard and seen, most European countries file criminal charges in almost every death that can be attributed to someone, even in accidents. Its just how their system works.

It's common for the French government to open a criminal investigation concurrently with most airline, charter and commercial vehicle crashes that result in fatalities. I think Italy does too.
 
A few people received significant jail time after the Milan crash:

"On 16 April 2004, a Milan court found four persons guilty for the disaster. Airport director Vincenzo Fusco and air-traffic controller Paolo Zacchetti were both sentenced to eight years in prison. Francesco Federico, former head of the airport, and Sandro Gualano, former head of the air traffic control agency, received sentences of six and a half years.[16] In the appeal trial (7 July 2006), Fusco and Federico were discharged. Another four people were sentenced. The pardon law issued by the Italian Parliament on 29 July 2006 reduced all convictions by three years. On 20 February 2007 the Corte di Cassazione upheld the decision of the Appeal Court"
 
In the US, aviation regulations are civil code, not criminal code. In most other countries Aviation laws are similar to our state motor vehicle laws, in that violators can serve jail time.

The US learned years ago that a civil code system was preferable to criminal code because 1) parties are more willing to speak about what happened, allowing investigators an easier time solving the cause, and 2) a lower burden of proof makes it easier to enforce the regulations. It's a double edged sword, but from a safety perspective, I think it's preferable to how the rest of the world does it. Movie notwithstanding, imagine putting Sully on trial for landing on a river, or more importantly, imagine making a choice where declaring emergency and getting on the ground safely might still get you jail time. You might just decide to roll the dice and hope for a good outcome.
 
A few people received significant jail time after the Milan crash:

"On 16 April 2004, a Milan court found four persons guilty for the disaster. Airport director Vincenzo Fusco and air-traffic controller Paolo Zacchetti were both sentenced to eight years in prison. Francesco Federico, former head of the airport, and Sandro Gualano, former head of the air traffic control agency, received sentences of six and a half years.[16] In the appeal trial (7 July 2006), Fusco and Federico were discharged. Another four people were sentenced. The pardon law issued by the Italian Parliament on 29 July 2006 reduced all convictions by three years. On 20 February 2007 the Corte di Cassazione upheld the decision of the Appeal Court"

Was this the ground collision between a DC-9 and a Citation?
 
For what I've heard and seen, most European countries file criminal charges in almost every death that can be attributed to someone, even in accidents. Its just how their system works.

And yet, they're super laid back about assisted suicide, whereas our Yosemite Sam mouth-breathing **ses lose our ever loving minds over it. Pardoxical people, those leisurely-living Europeans. :D A bit suffocating governmental and cultural lifestyle to risk-taking men with a flying hobby such as myself, but a great place to be lower class from a QOL standpoint. Takes all kinds I suppose.
 
Was this the ground collision between a DC-9 and a Citation?

Here's the crash info from Wiki:

The Linate Airport disaster occurred on 8 October 2001 at Linate Airport in Milan, Italy, when Scandinavian Airlines Flight 686, a McDonnell Douglas MD-87 airliner carrying 110 people bound for Copenhagen, Denmark, collided on take-off with a Cessna Citation CJ2[3] business jet carrying four people bound for Paris, France. All 114 people on both aircraft were killed, as well as four people on the ground. Investigation revealed the collision was caused by a number of nonfunctioning and nonconforming safety systems, standards, and procedures at the airport.[4] It remains the deadliest accident in Italian aviation history.

The accident occurred in thick fog, with visibility reduced to less than 200 metres (656 ft).
 
I always kinda thought the Concorde crash "cause" was a buck-passing political CYA - wasn't that part pretty small, and quite light? If I recall, it casue a tire to blow, and a chunk of the tire hit (did not/not penetrate) the under-wing surface, and the shock-wave reverberated through a fuel tank, causing a cover/valve on top to blow off? I could be wrong, but a blown tire shouldn't bring down an airliner. It wasn't like thet a door off a Chevy, or a cowling ring, etc. Again, I think it was fairly small and light. . .
 
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