BAAC 'independent' panel dumped Ashcroft complaint 2 days after Shoreham crash
   

   
14 Feb: BAAC in Court. Belshaw & Black agreed vehicles could swerve out of the way of aircraft



'Sometimes incompetence is useful. It helps you keep an open mind'  Roberto Cavalli



DRK Solicitiors to Ashcroft 3:15pm 04 April 2014: "Whilst writing, I attach a copy of an e-mail that was sent by Mr Commander to Mel on the 16^th March 2014.   When this e-mail was received, Mel was quite troubled by it because Mr Commander should not have been contacting her directly in this way."  



From: Robert John Commander [ordered by a Court to be a BAAC independent joint expert]

To: Ashcroft Airfield Solicitor [Mel Sumner] 16:14  16 March 2014 
  
Quote: "I'm sure your client is aware of the Pilots Rumour Network - PPrune - but I am not sure if you will have seen it. Here is the PPrune string on Ashcroft Airfield. As with the impression given by the Ashcroft website, PPrune is doing your client few favours.
Aviation is a very small world and, as you may be gathering, quite a gossipy one .. PPrune is read avidly by the regulators as by the flying community, so the views voiced in the forum are probably common knowledge to those interested within the CAA" Unquote

Nice work Bob: you're being sued for professional negligence [public safety] see you in Court

New BAAC Disclaimer: "The British Association of Aviation Consultants (BAAC) shall not be held responsible for any loss or damage caused in any way, including any errors, omissions, inaccuracy, interpretation or misinterpretation, whether negligent or not. The BAAC hereby disclaims any and all liability to any person in respect of anything done or omitted to be done by any member or officer of the BAAC"

  

  


 















High Court Judge Armitage has shown that no Club/Authority is immune from criticism

More data to follow: for 2018 BAAC-CAA-LAC litigation

  

Judge Grant instructed E Mort to act more responsibly re: actions of LAC Club Members 
Judge Johnstone advised the LAC .. that their case was lost re: Ashcroft gate damage 
Judge Richmond ordered a full assessment re:safe and lawful operations of D-EARY 

23 Nov 2016: Ashcroft initiated BAAC-CAA-LAC stage1 legal proceedings [public safety]

16 May 2018: Ashcroft initiates BAAC-CAA-LAC stage 2 legal proceedings [public safety]

BAAC Hot Air Balloonist expert: "drivers can swerve out of the way of oncoming aircraft"

BAAC Balloonist: "pilots can avoid vehicles on landing"  suggested reading for Balloonist:

See and Avoid ... Peripheral and ... Tunnel vision

High Court Judge: LAC overflights cries out for expert assessment [not by a Balloonist]

After a High Court Judge recognises Ashcroft's concerns re: LAC low flying over public highways, commenting ...it "cries out" for a proper Expert assessment, Ashcroft responds by constructing a central HD tri-video device to protect our General Public (this is in addition to the 2 cameras that  'caught'  the LAC flying over our road at 19ft 4 in)

Butler Report: LAC Focke Wulf flew 'dangerously low' over Ashcroft Road

How bad does it have to get, before the Court's take over to protect the general public?
  

 

15,000 members of the public use our boundary road/year. Relevant issues range from:

• Gross incompetence to ...
• Criminal negligence  

23 Dec 2017 A letter has been sent to the new UK CAA CEO [Richard Moriarty] ..here

BAAC-CAA-LAC litigation [16 May 2018] will focus on:

• Failure of the BAAC's expert's to act in an appropriate [and] safe manner
• Failure of the UK CAA's regulatory framework to protect the general public
• Failure of the UK CAA's regulatory framework to protect pilots & passengers
• Failure of the UK CAA's senior operatives to act with integrity and transparency
• Failure of the LAC Committee to regulate the errant behaviour of their members

  
  




Kate Staples [CAA] continues to insult Ashcroft re: non-compliant LAC high energy ops.

  
A recent attempt [28.11.2017] by senior operatives representing the UK CAA to walk away from a clear 'duty of care' to protect the general public [not associated with aviation activities] is viewed as shabby and irresponsible.

Attempts to mislead / provide false information to our MP will not impress a UK Court
  
Ashcroft will be asking a Court to order the UK CAA to provide a declaration designed to protect our Community and to pay substantial damages due to the dangerous advice given by the UK CAA's Microlight 'Hooligan' [Chris Finnigan's own words]
  
2012-2014: Finnigan gave reckless advice to the Lanc's Aero Club and an inexperienced BAAC Hot Air Balloonist expert [Robert John Commander] ... thereby endangering the general public at Ashcroft.

  
1986: Considerable pressure was put on Roger Boisjoly to trash his safety concerns regarding the 'O' Rings fitted on the Space Shuttle Challenger ...
Seven people died as a result of the extensive bullying that Mr Boisjoly experienced.
  

2018: Ashcroft will ask a UK Court to assess whether the CAA has behaved responsibly
  
There are 15,000 members of the public who use our eastern boundary road every year
  
Lancashire Aero Club have made their intentions clear to 'ransom' the owners of Ashcroft with high energy non-compliant aircraft, operating towards our Community.

23 Dec 2017: Level 2 litigation commences against the BAAC [RJC] .. and the UK CAA
  
2017: Ashcroft passed on concerns to the CAA   2018: time for a UK Court to comment

    
CAA 2014: a pilot doesn't have to take into account passenger expections or ignorance


  
AAIB 2017: struggling to cope with the UK CAA's 2014 buffoonery ... full scale enquiry 2018
 

  

02 Nov 2017: Credit to Jemma Gaule [WS Coroner] acting with integrity - passing on concerns

AAIB 2017: struggling to cope with the UK CAA's 2014 buffoonery ... full scale enquiry 2018

  
BAAC-CAA-LAC litigation in 2018 will focus on:

• Failure of the BAAC's expert's to act in an appropriate [and] safe manner
• Failure of the UK CAA's regulatory framework to protect the general public
• Failure of the UK CAA's regulatory framework to protect pilots & passengers
• Failure of the UK CAA's senior operatives to act with integrity and transparency
• Failure of the LAC's hierarchy to regulate the unsafe behaviour of their members

02 Nov 2017: Credit to Jemma Gaule [WS Coroner] acting with integrity - passing on concerns  

Prospect calls for CAA to be broken up

Prospect has called for the UK’s aviation regulator to be split up, in a letter to transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin, amid concerns that safety is no longer its paramount concern

23 Nov 2010: Ashcroft Airfield and 15,000 road users ransomed by Eric Clifford Mort's Lancashire Aero Club with high energy non-compliant aircraft.

March 2014: The CAA's Motorcycle & Microlight 'Hooligan' [Chris Finnigan's own words] and the BAAC's Hot Air Balloonist 'expert' [Robert John Commander] thought that the public risks were 'spurious-trivia'.

Summer 2017: Ashcroft repeatedly asked Kate Staples and Tony Rapson [UK CAA] to 'work' with us to manage the risks to the public but they steadfastly refused.
  
Summer 2017: John Wheeler, Chairman British Association of Aviation Consultants resigns
  
Summer 2017: Gwyn Topham [The Guardian] publishes a damning report on the CAA 
  
Autumn 2017: Ashcroft is now 'working' with the West Sussex Chief Coroner [Jemma Gaule] and the Shoreham Chief Investigator, Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team [Tony Taylor] who emailed us 17.11.2017  " were you aware that a couple of weeks ago the Prime Minister announced in Parliament that the Dept. of Transport had accepted the AAIB proposal for an independent review of the CAA ?"
  
Ashcroft will not be ransomed by Mort's Lanc's Aero Club with the CAA looking away
   
23 Nov 2017: Pre-action protocols against the CAA will be published on this website
 
23 Nov 2017: Commander reminded that he's being sued for professional negligence

How bad does it have to get, before the Court's take over to protect the general public?  


  

   

Mark Twain: 'The two most important days in your life are the day you are born ... and the day you find out why.'
   

  

 

          

  

Compare the proper Expert's Code of Conduct ... with the BAAC's version

BAAC fail to comply with the minimum standards required for Experts Code of Conduct

Chris Finnigan [CAA's Microlight & Motorcycle Hooligan] advises aero clubs and experts:

"The private pilot is responsible for his or her own actions and does not have to take into account passenger expections or ignorance - the bottom line is that a pilot can do whatever he likes, including hazarding his own life" .. nice work Chris

  

CAA's Chris Finnigan [self proclaimed Motorcycle & Microlight hooligan] states on 1:57pm 17 Oct 2012 ... "In private flying the law does not impose any specified safety factor.." 

Mr Finnigan, please explain this microlight philosophy  to the relatives of the deceased on our eastern boundary road due to a LAC 'high energy' aircraft overrunning our 500m grass runway, using unfactorised take-off performance data [ah you're retired. Don't worry we'll explain this deficiency to a Court in your absence. D-EARY has 5 times the inertia of any aircraft that you've ever experienced]

Compare Finnigan's comments above with an expert experienced in high energy aircraft ops
  
Geoff Connolly [BAAC expert] ... email 05/29/14 at 9:33 AM
 
"Steve, the ‘reasonable steps’ referred to in the ANO, and the effects of sub para (a) below, make it very difficult to ignore the performance information in the Flight Manual.

  

Commander to be satisfied that flight can be safely completed
87 The commander of a flying machine must, before take-off, take all reasonable steps so as to be satisfied that it is capable of safely taking off, reaching and maintaining a safe height and making a safe landing at the place of intended destination having regard to:
(a) the performance of the flying machine in the conditions to be expected on the intended flight

So LBA rules, and you have to go with performance as in the flight manual, but the pilot must, in my opinion, have regard to the factors in SSL 07, para 10, in order to comply with ANO 87"

    

UK Civil Aviation Authority:  "the private pilot is responsible for his or her own actions and does not have to take into account passenger expectations or ignorance. The bottom line is that a pilot can do just about whatever he likes …. including hazarding his life" [based on advice from a CAA Microlight 'Hooligan' Chris Finnigan]

  
The AAIB state [03.03.2017] that UK CAA seem to blame others for public safety risks

If the CAA refuse to protect our road users then we'll ask a Court to order them to do it


  
The LAC continue to use flying rights as a tool to ransom Ashcroft and our Community 
  
Ashcroft will publish a public safety letter here [14.03.2017] to UK GOV [DfT] + AAIB
  
  
Shoreham AAIB report: "The investigation found that the parties involved in the planning, conduct and regulatory oversight of the flying display did not have formal safety management systems in place to identify and manage the hazards and risks.

  
The regulator believed the organisers of flying displays owned the risk. Conversely, the organiser believed that the regulator would not have issued a Permission for the display if it had not been satisfied with the safety of the event"

LAC non-compliant high energy aircraft:  Court hearing 13 March 2017
  
The UK Civil Aviation Authority expects the owners of Ashcroft Airfield to 'manage the hazards and risks'  to control non-compliant LAC high energy aircraft operating from a 500m grass Runway towards a frequently used public highway.
  
Since we have no 'control' over this situation and bearing in mind the comments from the [fortunately independent] AAIB, it seems that the UK CAA Chief Exec [Andrew Haines] may need to re-assess his .. nothing to do with us .. comments on 13 June 2016   

Public Safety: Challenger enquiry: "Individuals who know of a situation that, unless acted upon with integrity might cause social harm, have a responsibility to contact any authority that will manage and control that situation in the best interest of the public".

LAC continue to ransom Ashcroft and our Community with 'high energy' aircraft 

• CAA continue to ignore their 'prime directive' to safeguard 15,000 road users 
• BAAC content to endorse gross incompetence/failure to comply with Court rules 

Ashcroft has 3 primary goals ... to ask a Court to:

• Strongly recommend that the BAAC is regulated by an Independent body.
• Order the UK CAA to be upfront with their responsibilities to protect our public
• Order the LAC to stop non-compliant high energy aircraft endangering our public

BAAC are desperate to distance themselves from their Hot Air Balloonist safety report  

Email to our Solicitors from BAAC independent expert [Bob Commander] 16.03.2014
"The Ashcroft Airfield website is showing a message about an expert assessment being in progress until April.  I would appreciate some assurance that this has nothing to do with my report.  It may well be for new drainage or seeding or general maintenance, but there is absolutely no need to warn potential visitors to the field about my own work ...  once again, the website influences my own opinions"  .. 

Bob, if you'd been doing your job properly you would have noticed that 15,000 people use our road every year. An unfortunate mistake [one of many it seems]

  

Public Safety: Challenger enquiry: "Individuals who know of a situation that, unless acted upon with integrity might cause social harm, have a responsibility to contact any authority that will manage and control that situation in the best interest of the public".

With 15,000 members of our public at risk, it is appalling that the British Association of Aviation Consultants [falsely] claimed that an 'Independent' enquiry panel would be set up, to investigate the safety report and actions of Robert John Commander [ex-CAA]

This 'independent' panel consisted of: 

• His Honour Harvey Crush FRAeS MBAC [Chairman]
• Andrew MT Belshaw MSc MBAC MRAeS
• James M K Black BA (Oxon) Dip Bus Man FIPM MBAC

They were in fact, all members of the BAAC. With the panel 'Chairman' on the BAAC Council this calls into question the integrity of the BAAC.

06 March 2014: BAAC Balloonist Expert [Robert John Commander] spent 38 min touring Ashcroft [he wrote it up as 90 min]. Commander was ordered by a Court to assess all safety risks associated with LAC high energy aircraft using Ashcroft Airfield with a public highway at the end of a 500m grass Runway.



At least the Balloonist BAAC "Expert" got something right: "The aircraft should be flown in accordance with the correct flight manual but the pilot is required to comply with the Rules for the country in which the aircraft is being flown. However, if there is a difference in regulatory requirement, the aircraft must be flown in compliance with the more restrictive regulation between the country of registration (Germany) and the country where the flight takes place (UK)."
  
Ashcroft was initially reassured that the BAAC 'experts' operated to a high standard
The difference between expectations -v- reality was staggering. CCTV evidence shows that Commander spent just 30 sec assessing the risk to the general public.
     
  

  
British Association of Aviation Consults 'Balloonist' Expert ... "the private pilot is responsible for his or her own actions and does not have to take into account passenger expectations or ignorance .. The bottom line is that a pilot can do just about whatever he likes, including hazarding his life"

This statement is based on advice from a CAA Microlight 'Hooligan' [Chris Finnigan]

BAAC: the official CAA safety document on aircraft performance is found here 
 
"Accidents such as failure to get airborne, collision with obstacles after take-off and over-run on landing occur frequently to light aeroplanes. Many, if not all, of these performance accidents could have been avoided if the pilots had been fully aware of the performance limitations of their aeroplanes. The pilot in command has a legal obligation under EU Part-NCO and Article 87 of the Air Navigation Order 2009, which require the pilot to check that the aeroplane will have adequate performance for the proposed flight"
   

  

• 05 Jan 2016: Tony Rapson [Head of GA Flt Ops] ... Quote "Let me be clear .. Unlicensed airfields such as Ashcroft are not regulated by the CAA" Unquote
   
• 23 Nov 2016: Concerns passed to ICAO President regarding the UK CAA's deviation from Annex 19 of the Chicago Convention: APP 1. State Safety Oversight System. Primary aviation legislation 1.1
  "The State shall promulgate a comprehensive and effective aviation law, consistent with the size and complexity of the State’s aviation activity and with the requirements contained in the Convention on International Civil Aviation, that enables the State to regulate civil aviation"

On advice from a Microlight-Motorcycle 'Hooligan' ... a BAAC Balloonist says:

Quote: "the private pilot is responsible for his or her own actions and does not have to take into account passenger expectations or ignorance, although a passenger safety briefing is strongly recommended. The bottom line is that a pilot can do just about what he likes, including hazarding his own life, provided that there are mitigations in place for members of the public" unquote ... Balloon passengers bring your own parachutes !
   
Compare this with the official CAA version regarding the ANO Para 4.2 (b):  
Quote "for securing the safety of air navigation and the safety of aircraft and of persons and property carried therein, [and] for preventing aircraft endangering other persons and property" unquote

Quote: "Regulation must he risk-based, he says – and the CAA is not there to save you from yourself. If you understand and accept the risks, you are entitled to take them. “Aviation regulators recognise their principal duty of care to the genuine uninvolved third-party. (However) the pilot of a single seat de-regulated aircraft is fully aware of his own risks and is personally responsible for mitigating them; where the risk to society is small and the participants are fully aware of any risks involved, the level of intervention need not be onerous" Unquote

LAC continue to Ransom Ashcroft and our road users, so the litigation will continue

• BAAC assurances: "Their professionalism, qualifications and experience are assured, therefore, when delivering the services you need" ... a  BAAC Joke?
• Civil Aviation Authority assurances [1]: "for securing the safety of air navigation and the safety of aircraft and of persons and property carried therein, [and] for preventing aircraft endangering other persons and property"
• Civil Aviation Authority assurances [2]:“Aviation regulators recognise their principal duty of care to the genuine uninvolved third-party" [CAA-AOPA Aug 2013]

John Wheeler, why did your Balloonist "Expert" not use the performance data from the correct (Civil) Flight Manual and why did he use performance data from a (Military) Flight manual that the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt have specificaly stated is "not part of the Civil approval of the FW-149"

The Lancashire Aero Club 2 Ton Focke Wulf [D-EARY] .. must observe German Law and must .. "operate the aircraft in such a manner that no third party is endangered, harmed, impeded or inconvenienced beyond the extent unavoidable under the circumstances"