Helicopter crash pilot fined £500

A pilot who crashed his helicopter after taking the deputy first minister on a campaign trip has been cleared of recklessness.

However, Iain Grindlay, 49, from Pathhead, Midlothian, was fined £500 for not giving his passengers a pre-flight safety briefing.

Mr Grindlay was cleared of most charges relating to the April 2003 accident on Friday at Edinburgh Sheriff
His craft crashed in Midlothian after hitting a pylon wire.

Mr Grindlay, the managing director and chief pilot of Lothian Helicopters, was at the controls of the Bell Jetranger craft when it crashed a day before the Scottish parliamentary elections.

Pre-election flight

Earlier that day it had been used by the Liberal Democrat leader and his wife, Rosie, for a series of pre-election engagements.

He left them at Aberdeen and headed for his company's base at Oxenfoord Castle in East Lothian with his brother Roderick and Lib Dem campaign worker David Webster on board.

Within three miles of the landing pad he saw his landing site was completely covered in cloud and there was no visibility and decided to land in a field nearby for safety reasons.

On its descent the helicopter hit a power line and crashed with the trio inside - all three were injured.

Mr Grindlay was knocked unconscious and had to be pulled from the aircraft by his two passengers.

He was later brought to court for various charges including failing to ensure passengers were made familiar with certain safety aspects.

The experienced pilot, who has flown since 1985 and logged 4,500 flying hours, denied charges of negligence and recklessness throughout his eight-day trial.

In charging the jury on Friday, Sheriff Gordon Liddle told them to delete any mention of negligence from the charges as the Crown had made no mention of it during its closing speech.
Instead, he asked the jury to judge the evidence on the grounds of "recklessness" whereby Mr Grindlay's actions would have had to have fallen far below that expected of a careful and competent helicopter commander.
The jury found Mr Grindlay guilty by a majority on the safety briefing issue and handed him a unanimous not proven verdict on causing the helicopter to collide with the pylon wire.

They also returned a unanimous not guilty verdict over charges of endangering people and property in the valley where the crash occurred.

Sheriff Liddle fined Mr Grindlay £500 and allowed him 28 days for payment.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4237395.stm

Page Last Updated: 4 March, 2010

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