Crash pilot’s jail term extended over fraud
MAN WHO JUST MISSED M62 FAILED TO TELL INSURERS ABOUT PAST FATAL CRASHES
A PILOT who crashed his plane has been handed more jail time after he failed to tell insurers that aircraft operated by him had previously been involved in three fatal crashes.
Robert Murgatroyd, 53, narrowly missed the M62 when he took off in his severely overloaded Piper Cherokee plane from Barton Aerodrome.
He was trying to fly three bird watchers to the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, to see a rare bird which had been spotted there for the first time in 30 years.
Minutes after taking off, the plane plummeted into a potato field. Luckily the passengers were not seriously hurt.
During an astonishing police interview Murgatroyd tried to portray himself as the ‘hero of the moment.’
After being convicted of aviation offences following a trial, Murgatroyd was jailed for three-and-a-half years.
Murgatroyd was back in Manchester Crown Court, where he pleaded guilty to an offence of fraud, of making a false declaration to obtain insurance.
In April 2017, five months before the crash, Murgatroyd was taking out insurance on the 45-year-old plane with Sydney Charles Aviation Insurance. He was asked questions, including for details of any accidents within the last five years involving the customer or any other pilot insured to fly the aircraft, and whether the customer had ever had any insurance cancelled or declined.
Murgatroyd took out the policy, which cost him £965.25.
Prosecutor Henry Blackshaw told the court police investigations have revealed information that should have been disclosed to insurers, and would likely have increased the price of the premium or meant he would have been refused insurance altogether.
In May 2013, an aircraft operated and insured by Murgatroyd was hired out to a pilot and it crashed at Caernarfon in Wales, killing one and seriously injuring two others. Following that, in June 2014 Murgatroyd was convicted of flying an aircraft without a valid certificate of airworthiness, and was fined £300.
In October 2011, another aircraft operated and insured by Murgatroyd was hired to a pilot, and it crashed in Switzerland killing both occupants.
In February 2007, another aircraft he operated crashed into the sea at Blackpool, killing the two occupants.
The police’s investigation found that in the hours before taking out the insurance policy with Sydney Charles Aviation Insurance, Murgatroyd had been declined insurance from another firm.
They said because Murgatroyd had previously operated under the name Fly Blackpool, their record must be disclosed. In two of the fatal crashes, he was operating as Fly Blackpool (Flybpl).
Replying to the insurers after he had been declined, Murgatroyd wrote: “What a crock of s***, flybpl has not had a claim on their policy and in any event the last known incident was GATRR on May 19 2012, a D*** Head Pilot who crashed my aircraft and killed his son, I perused [sic] him through the courts privately and I got £17,000 payoff, no help from you or your company!!!
“Anyone can insure this aircraft and anyone can fly it under club use, what D*** Head Pilot’s do after they depart is down to them, not the owner, operator, not the club, not the CFI (Certificated Flight Instructor) and definitely not the Authorising Instructor. Insurance companies and the shambles we call the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) need to address this instead of pointing the finger at one or two individuals.”
Judge Michael Leeming said Murgatroyd has a ‘cavalier attitude to aviation,’ and sentenced him to a further 22 weeks in prison, to run consecutively to his three-and-a-half year term.
The judge told him: “I am satisfied you were financially motivated, to secure for yourself a reduced premium.
“This is a serious fraud.”