Guest ozzie Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 Western Australia Police 3 November 2014 · Edited · Newman Plane Incident Charge - A 37 year old man was charged today in relation to him taxiing a propeller driven Beechcraft 2 seater aircraft (minus wings) through Newman to the Newman Hotel (purple pub) on Friday 31 October 2014 at about 2.10pm. It will be alleged that he had just bought the aircraft from a private residence and was taking it home on the other side of the town, but stopped at the pub. On examination it was found to have an exposed fuel line hanging from the side of the aircraft attached to an unsecured jerry can inside the cabin to enable the engine to run. On stopping the aircraft the accused left the engine in a potentially dangerous condition with the ignition on. The accused does not hold a pilot’s licence and the roads were busy with other vehicles and pedestrians at the time. The accused has been charged with Endanger Life, Health or Safety of a Person and is due to appear in the Newman Magistrates Court on 18 November 2014. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaz3g Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 I'm sure the driver thinks it's enough! That's an indictable offence and probably carries around 15 years or more...I haven't looked for the relevant Act. Other possible charges I can think of are all summary including driving offences. Will be interesting to see how seriously the beak views this incident. Years ago it would have just raised a laugh but now??? Kaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrZoos Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 OMG.....thats ridiculous...funny, scary, crazy and just messed up all in one go! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishla Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 You can kill someone and only get 12 months SUSPENDED. So I'd say a stern warning from the magistrate should suffice as punishment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ozzie Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 well they never actually caught him driving it did they. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishla Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 My mistake. Its only 4 months suspended for killing someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunder Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 Scary he didn't have any licence and left the (mags?) on. Imagine a couple of school kids running up and giving the prop a swing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrZoos Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 He did a bloody good job of parking the thing. 10/10 for that. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pylon500 Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 Wonder if he gave hand signals? Guess he only turned left... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old man emu Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 After considering the Facts presented and the photograph, and relying on 28 years' experience policing traffic law, the only offences I think that I could prove 'beyond reasonable doubt' are: 1. Drive Unregistered Motor Vehicle (On the road, it is a vehicle propelled by an engine of some type - the Law does not specify the means by which the power of the engine is used to move the vehicle, and it is not designed to run on rails, so it's not railway rolling stock. 2. Drive Uninsured Motor Vehicle (Compulsory Third Party Injury insurance - which cannot be issued to a vehicle which has not passed a roadworthy inspection. Depending on the date of manufacture of the airplane, it may not even be required to meet some Australian Design Rules for motor vehicles - it would need a stop light at the rear as a minimum, and a shroud around the propellor.) As for the serious charge of Endanger Life etc, you would need to prove an incident that actually endangered the Life, Health or Safety of a person. Obviously the vehicle was under control of a competent person as it traveled along the road (a twit, maybe, but still competent to stop and start the vehicle). Its motion could be stopped at will (see how it's parked), and the engine could be stopped. All I can see is "Potential Danger", and there's potential danger whenever a vehicle of any type - engine, wind or animal powered - is put in motion. I hope the bloke is going to use the airplane for display as he's going to be up for a whack replacing the wing spars. OME 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEM Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 Obvious how the police found out. He parked right next to the police car. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty_d Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 I can't see the relevance of him not having a pilot's licence. It doesn't have wings fer chrissakes. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ozzie Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 I got caught once for using a land yacht on a road and park, doing good on the argument until the peckerhead council ranger piped up that it was a Velocipede, A what!! Cop wanted to try for unregistered uninsured, speeding, no signal overtake, crossing unbroken line, no helmets, unrestrained animal, (dog). This was on President Ave in Kogarah. Wouldn't have caught us if we didn't have to tack up a side street to get home. Awesome land yacht made from pranged hang glider bits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pylon500 Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 I hope the bloke is going to use the airplane for display as he's going to be up for a whack replacing the wing spars. Do you know something about the spars I don't? The stub sticking out of the fuselage IS the spar. This aircraft follows a lot of the Jim Bede designs having tube spars in the wing panels, which slide over a heavy tube spar carry through in the fuselage. The little Grummans (Yankee Trainer, Cheetah, Tiger, etc) use the same system, mainly because they were derived from the BD-1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunder Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 I can't see the relevance of him not having a pilot's licence. It doesn't have wings fer chrissakes. Not having a pilots licence, he may not know how to manage an aero engine. ie He left the mags on. He probably didn't even know about prop dangers, dangers with swinging the prop on a stopped live engine as a pilot WOULD know these things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDQDI Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Give the poor fella a break, look he parked it dead centre of the parking space so can't be completely incompetent. Maybe leaving the mags on was just his version of a theft deterent. As Kaz said, years ago it would have raised a laugh. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrZoos Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Dont take life to serious, ya not dead yet! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sain Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 He did a bloody good job of parking the thing. 10/10 for that. Driving around Canberra you see a lot of people who can't get their car between the lines as well as that guy did. Even on handicap spaces... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty_d Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 I would have thought it'd make more sense for him to get out and push it in backwards - can you imagine him rolling out after a few lagers and trying to find reverse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetiredRacer Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Give the poor fella a break, look he parked it dead centre of the parking space so can't be completely incompetent. Maybe leaving the mags on was just his version of a theft deterent.As Kaz said, years ago it would have raised a laugh. He did a better job of parking it than the cops did parking the 4x4. But I shudder to think he may have man handled it into the parking spot swinging on the "LIVE" prop!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Tuncks Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 This silly bugger was living in the past when we were more free than we are now. Nobody was injured, that was only a theoretical possibility. More likely than being abducted by aliens, but still theoretical. We have traded freedoms for safety so much that we have little freedom left. There was a guy at my club who, as a schoolboy, used to buy dynamite at an Adelaide hardware shop, to play with over the weekend. He never hurt himself or anybody else and grew up to be a dentist. I can't even imagine that sort of freedom these days. Maybe there is a balance to be sought, but in the meantime we have gone way too far with over-regulation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 When I was a kid, growing up in Newcastle, I had friends with brothers etc in mines and the army. We had Cordite, Gelignite and fused and electric detonators, as well as assorted bullets. I can't recall one accident or injury. We blew out a section of rock to locate a boatshed at Kilaben bay. No permits no fuss. Something's changed out there. Nev 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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