I saw this on the UK list, Flyer Forums. What a couple of jerks, rich enough to buy a jet but no common sense.
Video here.
tinyurl.com/ylhlh7w
Story here.
tinyurl.com/y8wef95
Hope they enjoyed their pilots license while they had them!
Frank Holbert
160knots.com
“[Riggs’] attorney said [Riggs] did nothing wrong.”
Los Angeles Times article
I predict Riggs’ attorney will be disbarred for total incompetence.
LA Times got it wrong (again!)
Referring to the L-39:
the Soviet-made military jet
Further in the article:
Another type of Soviet trainer, an Aero Vodochody L-29 Delfin,
Both of these statements are wrong. The L-29 and L-39 were Czech made, not Soviet made.
Garp
He is bound by law to do his best to defend Riggs to the best of his ability. Lay off lawyers, not all of them are scum.
Weird. I live about a mile from the pier as the crow flies, and this is the first I heard about this incident. What a bunch of idiots (the pilot and the “brains” behind the stunt)!
I guess that is the last fun they are gonna get for a long time.
I’m not issuing a blanket criticism of those engaged in the legal profession, flyboy. I work with attorneys on a regular basis, and have a fairly good understanding of the criminal justice system. I’m simply suggesting that since the FAA had solid grounds for issuing its emergency revocation order the details of which are now a matter of public record Riggs’ attorney’s denial of any wrongdoing is a pretty amateurish defense strategy in my book. Admittedly, the revocation order was a matter of federal administrative law, and the crime of which Riggs is accused here is a municipal criminal offense. But I’m willing to wager that the Santa Monica D.A. will introduce the FAA’s revocation order as evidence of wrongdoing.
Anyway, if anybody’s interested, there’s a decent write-up by an aviation attorney of the FAA case and subsequent appeal located here.
Skip Holm referenced in the article is a legend in aviation. Its a shame he is even associated to this.
The only action the FAA took after knowing about Riggs and his exploits since 2004, is they revoked his pilot certificate and fired one of the inspectors that did the investigation. Mike McCarthy (AWP-200) at the Western Pacific Region and his minions such as Naomi Tsuda (AWP-7) are running amok, building their own personal empires at taxpayer expense and making sure that idiots like Riggs continue to endanger the public.
Go to www.incredible-adventures.com. He is still listed as one of the top aces. He never had anything more than a Private Pilot certificate, and yet he touts that he is a Hollywood stunt pilot and overall gift to the aviation community.
The message hear is loud and clear: If you do your job too well as a Federal Employee, you will get fired. The other message is: If you are David Riggs or someone like him, come on over, we’ll (The FAA) protect you and your illegal commercial operation, no matter how much you endanger the public.
This creep needs to go back to prison so that he never cheats anyone else out of their savings, or crashes his aircraft into a schoolyard somewhere when his shoddily maintained piece of junk aircraft comes apart.
I’m fairly certain this is the same group of individuals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIzWIsHZTE8
If you look under the incredible-adventures site they have a Paparazzi option where friends or family can “fly along side in a high-performance prop”.
I’m not sure if he’s flying the jet or the Bo or either…
But if he was, he’s had more than one close call with losing his license (life).