Civilian pilot admits landing at closed RAF base
SHE WAS ‘TOO BUSY’, SO HE CANCELLED YORKSHIRE TRIP AND DIVERTED TO RAF VALLEY
A“FLIPPANT and arrogant” millionaire pilot landed at an RAF airfield on Anglesey after failing to fly to see his mother in Yorkshire because she was too busy.
Richard Charles Priestley Wood, 60, landed at RAF Valley to visit the beach, but instead sparked an incident involving fire engines and led to an investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority.
He accepted he wrongly assumed it was available and open 24/7.
Wood, of Crescent Place, Chelsea, London, did not attend Caernarfon Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty by post to landing at and departing from RAF Valley without permission.
The court heard from Elizabeth Dudley Jones, representing the Civil Aviation Authority, that Wood flew from Fairoaks Airport in Woking in Surrey on May 25.
The prosecutor said Wood had sought and been given permission to fly to Yorkshire.
But en route he contacted his mother there and found she was “busy”, so he diverted to Anglesey.
RAF Valley was closed at the time, but at 11.45am, fire officer Keith Roberts saw an aircraft overflying the airfield.
At one point, its undercarriage was partly down so he deduced it was an emergency and raised the alarm.
Radio records showed that Wood had called the RAF Valley tower at least seven times about landing but “unsurprisingly” there was no response from air traffic control because the airfield was closed.
The court heard that the British Army Military Provost guard service believed it was either an emergency or the aircraft had overshot nearby Mona Airfield.
The pilot landed opened the door of aircraft.
Ms Dudley Jones said: “Mr Roberts asked him why he had made an unscheduled landing at RAF Valley.
“The pilot replied: ‘I wanted to see the beach.’”
Ms Dudley Jones said and his
Mr Roberts said he had landed at a military airfield and was breaching Covid-19 restrictions.
But Wood replied: “It’s OK. I had Covid-19 two months ago.”
The court heard Wood appeared “flippant and arrogant” but that changed when he realised the seriousness of the situation.
The RAF Valley police unit told North Wales Police, and he was due to be questioned the following morning.
Wood said he would have been OK if he’d landed at nearby Mona.
The court heard he was told he couldn’t take off from RAF Valley but that the personnel had no power to stop him.
The prosecutor said a
Civil Aviation Authority investigation took place.
Wood said he had flown in the US and Canada but wasn’t familiar with UK rules.
He had been told his mother was busy so he “looked for somewhere else to go”.
The prosecutor said that, during an investigation, Wood later insisted the air traffic control staff should have told him en route that he should not have landed at RAF Valley.
However, the prosecutor said the defendant had not planned his flight properly, and he had “no idea if RAF Valley was military or civilian”.
She added: “He changed his plans to go from Yorkshire to Wales.
He had his head set on Valley and was unable to process various cues presented to him and carried on regardless.
“He was utterly unprepared for the fact that Valley was closed.”
Wood pleaded guilty to flying within an aerodrome traffic zone without having obtained information to enable a safe flight and also taking off.
It was a case of “bad planning and a failure of airmanship”.
Magistrates court chairman Alastair Langdon fined Wood £1,700 for each of the two offences.
He also ordered the defendant to pay the CAA’s £750 costs and a £190 victim surcharge.