A man who flew a helicopter from just the far side of Moate and landed on the roof of a multi-storey car park in the middle of Athlone on a busy Saturday afternoon to get a set of keys cut for it, was put from the skies for 12 months earlier this week (November 24 ).
Seán O'Brien (50 ), The Island, Ballycumber, Co Offaly, was before Judge David Anderson at Athlone District Court on 10 summonses brought by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA ) after landing on the roof of the Texas shopping centre in Irishtown - about 40m from Mary O’Rourke’s constituency office - on July 7 last year.
The reason he gave for getting the new keys for the €1.2m, single-engine Hughes 369HS (made famous on TV by Magnum PI ) was that at a recent charity function to which O’Brien had brought it, someone had let themselves in and “stolen Big Tom’s mobile phone”.
Of the 10 charges he faced, the most serious was of reckless endangerment after the security guard who tried to wave the helicopter away had his hand slightly injured by the effect the downdraft had on a large door in the staircase in which he tried to shelter. A civil action on this matter is still pending.
He was also summonsed for breaching rules on altitude, flying above a populated area, landing procedures and other technical matters.
O'Brien, who is single, unemployed and supported by his grandmother, claimed he had permission from both the owner of the shopping centre, Tom McNamara, and the centre’s manager to land on the building.
However, neither of these people turned up in court to corroborate his claims, whereas Mr Feeney, general manager of Parkrite Ltd, the company looking after the multi-storey car park in question, actually refuted this claim in his evidence.
“Parkrite was in no way approached to allow a landing on the roof,” he said.
In some support of O’Brien, though, he did agree the top three levels of the car park were vehicle-free and so the danger to other shoppers on at least this issue was limited.
Captain John Steele, aeronautical officer for the IAA with 34 years’ experience in helicopters, explained the dangers of such a landing.
“The downwash can be three or four times the weight of the helicopter, so nearly three or four tonnes of air in this case,” he said.
“It would’ve been easily sufficient to lift a person over the [1.5m] railing”.
He also pointed out that a single-engined helicopter is not allowed land on a raised building or in a built-up area because, in the case of engine failure, the ensuing forced landing would be “very dangerous”.
When the defendant took the stand, he told the court he was “FAA certified [Federal Aviation Authority, an American agency] to fly anywhere in the world”.
He said he had permission from Tom McNamara to land on the building and declared how he must’ve been the owner because “his name is on the building in four foot high letters”.
The judge pointed out that one could see Tommy Hilfiger written in a similar fashion on a building but it didn’t necessarily mean it belonged to him.
The defendant told the court the security guard had approached him for money (€200 ) to “make this go away” but that he refused. This accusation was admitted by the security guard.
O’Brien claimed heliport landings were statistically so safe that each one only had an accident every 344 years.
"From the time of Da Vinci?" asked the judge.
However, Capt Steele had told the court the landing site was not a proper heliport but a multi-storey car park.
O'Brien began accusing the IAA of "making rules that are unworkable" and was warned by his solicitor, Tom Madden, “not to go there”, yet he continued.
“They’re all military people over civil [aviation],” he said.
“They just give jobs to their buddies.The IAA is not interested in safety. There’s friends and relatives of theirs [the IAA] who’ve had accidents and they weren’t interested in investigating them.”
Even during cross-examination from Mr Peter Jones for the DPP, he continued the attack.
“The IAA aren’t doing things right. They’re endangering peoples’ lives,” he said.
“I’m just merely pointing out when the NTSB [the National Transportation Safety Board in the USA] come you get aeronautical engineers. The IAA are just State-sponsored bullies.
“I don’t think I’ll fly in Ireland again. I’m upset by the bullying. They don’t know what they’re doing. They’re a joke. Captain Steele knows more about flying in Iraq and killing Iraqis. I’m interested in safety. They’re going to kill someone.”
“I have to remind you it’s a witness box, not a pulpit,” said the judge before convicting him on all 10 summonses.
“I’m satisfied he manoeuvred the helicopter with blatant disregard, either through ignorance or lack of comprehension of fundamental rules of the game.
“He seems to have a total disregard, distrust and dislike of regulation.
Suggesting that the alternative would be six months in Mountjoy, the judge put O'Brien on a bail bond for one year, the main condition of which is that he does not fly during that period.
The judge used the bail bond with conditions after discovering he had no jurisdiction to take O’Brien’s licence.
“It’s strange that. If you use a mobile phone in a car I can take your licence but if you endanger half the population of Athlone, I can’t”.
