Instructor 
‘lied to get 
licence’ 
for death 
crash pilot

Paul Spencer, the boss of Country Baskets, obtained his licence in December 2007 after Ian King falsely certified to the Civil Aviation Authority he had complied with all the training requirements, Martin Goudie, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court yesterday.

Mr Spencer and his wife Linda died when their Westland Gazelle helicopter crashed in Rudding Park, Harrogate just over a month later on January 26, 2008.

After his death a record of his flying experience was discovered among his papers which was different to the hours recorded in the official flying log submitted for his licence, exposing it as lie, said Mr Goudie.

King, 53, of Burns Way, Clifford, Wetherby denies making a false representation with intent to deceive the Civil Aviation Authority.

Mr Goudie told the jury: “We are not here to decide why the helicopter crashed or whether Paul Spencer was a good pilot or not.

“What we are here to look at is the training of Mr Spencer and the key issue, had he done all the correct training in the required manner so that when Mr King certified the documentation to go to the CAA it was correct, that he was telling the truth.”

He said it was the prosecution’s case that King knew it was false when he certified Mr Spencer’s official log book that showed he had done 51.3 hours of training, the minimum being 45 hours, and that it had included the mandatory 10 hours of solo flying.

“That simply was a lie and he knew it was a lie.”

He claimed King misled the CAA “to help Mr Spencer get his licence in quick time”.

Mr Goudie said an investigation was made after the crash and among Mr Spencer’s papers a personal unofficial flying log was found which suggested he had not flown the required hours.

That personal log also indicated some of the hours he had flown were before November 19, the date he was officially recorded as having begun his training after he was issued with a licence to do so.

Those unauthorised hours which had been flown earlier were falsely recorded as “a catch up”, done during his official training period in the official log book.

Despite what was shown in the submitted official log book, that the training took place “in the thin window” between November 19 and December 5, communication between him and King showed flying had actually been taking place from the end of August, before his licence was issued.

Mr Goudie suggested that was backed up by a message sent by Mr Spencer in August referring to it being “such a shame to miss an opportunity to get a full week’s training in the summer time”.

That unofficial record found in Mr Spencer’s papers, if correct, also showed he had only done 8.6 solo hours, insufficient to get his licence.

Mr Goudie told the jury, phone records, emails sent by the businessman, fuel purchases and weather conditions also appeared to support that unofficial record rather than the official log certified by King.

He said, for example, Mr Spencer could access his emails from his office, home and his property in Spain but “the one place he could not was up flying a helicopter”.

Yet, he said, records showed him accessing some emails in November at times when he was logged in the official record as flying.

Mr Goudie said the prosecution would also call evidence showing some of the dates recorded in that official log had been unsuitable weather for flying, according to an experienced helicopter pilot.

When challenged by the CAA during their inquiries to produce his own log book for the critical time, King indicated he did not have entries relating to Mr Spencer.

He said he had planned to use his former pupil’s flying records to bring his own up to date but had been thwarted in that by the fatal crash.

The trial continues.