Pilot f lew too low, carelessly
A Wellington helicopter pilot has admitted flying too low and carrying a dangerous load while flying over the city’s central business district.
Ricky Lucas, who was before the court in September last year for not disclosing he was on medication, pleaded guilty to two new charges when he appeared in Wellington District Court yesterday.
Civil Aviation charging documents show on April 2, 2016 he flew in a careless manner between Pukerua Bay and Wellington twice by operating too low.
The second charge says that on July 2, 2016, he carried a load suspended below a helicopter between Centreport and the State Insurance building in a manner that was dangerous by having no traffic or pedestrian control in the flight path.
A two-week trial was supposed to begin yesterday, before a judge allowed Lucas to plead guilty at the last minute.
Both charges are finable only and the second charge is considered an infringement breach of the Civil Aviation rules so does not carry a conviction.
Lucas’ lawyer, Mike Antunovic, asked that no conviction be entered for the first charge as he intended to seek a discharge without conviction for his client.
He said that would be based partly on the good work Lucas had done over 35 years as a pilot and his more than 8500 flying hours.
Judge Peter Hobbs remanded Lucas until next week for sentencing.
Lucas had been charged last year after the Civil Aviation Authority found out he had been prescribed anti-anxiety medication, anti-depressants and sleeping pills. He was fined $2800 for making a false statement about the medication he was prescribed.
Pilots have to fill out a form every six months and cannot use their pilot’s licence unless the conditions of their medical certificate are complied with.
Lucas was in the headlines in May last year when the helicopter he was piloting crashed into water near Porirua. The charges have nothing to do with the crash.
Outside court, Lucas said the result ‘‘. . . is what it is . . . we are just looking for some closure’’.