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Action against a pilot for a breach of Schengen

WhiskeyPapa wrote:

I can understand where the airport manager who called the police was coming from so I really didn’t feel resentment. It looked like I had been a scofflaw at first but by the end they became much friendlier.

I believe you were actually yourself obligated to call the police. Whether you or he did does not matter.

As JAcko I also think that giving you a fine is against the the security spirit that we need to have in aviation.

LFPT, LFPN

I disagree with the general sentiment here – I think too much is being made of the word “fine”. The title of the thread doesn’t help either: there was no prosecution, there was an admin charge for the (unexpected) use of border police.

Yes, the charge is a downer and will be on your mind as you contemplate a diversion, but a good pilot should not compromise safety because it will cost him €100 extra, the same way a bizjet pilot should not refuse to go around just because of the consequent cost. Land safely, stick the charge on the credit card and pay in installments – life goes on.

I imagine WhiskeyPapa dislikes paying admin fees as much as the rest of us – and yet his comments seem to indicate that, given the same situation and with the benefit of hindsight, he would once again make the diversion to the non-port of entry.

Spare a thought for the policemen who were called on short notice – they probably have families too, kids waiting at home. They need to be paid for their time, the effort of investigating, etc. If it was you, would you work for free?

Finally, regarding the examples of UK police above – while they are commendable, there is also the flip side of the coin which is that they refuse to investigate if they feel it’s not worth their time. Worse still, they advertise it:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/10/police-tell-town-will-not-chase-shoplifters-steal-less-100/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/26/police-spark-shoplifting-boom-not-probing-thefts-200/

Having lived in the UK, Luxembourg, Italy, Germany and now the Netherlands, I hardly think the UK police are an example to follow.

EBZW

Not my title. Indeed, There was no prosecution! A good title for hits though! :)

Bertie is right. Several police officers were waiting for me when I landed, and later they called a customs officer to clear me through.

Last Edited by WhiskeyPapa at 22 May 17:56
Tököl LHTL

Title changed :)

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

In that case there was no action against the pilot. It was just a customs fee just like there are in Germany for example.

LFPT, LFPN

Getting “arrested” (as originally posted) is a bit more than a customs fee.

But one can get into a debate over what “arrested” means. In the UK it is a formal procedure, where they read you your rights etc, but it is obvious that in any scenario where police ask you to go with them, you are being de facto arrested because if you refuse they will arrest you, or worse

There is no intention to create more hits on EuroGA. We merely try to create informative threads which other GA pilots find useful, and sometimes, like currently, I am travelling and during the day have just a phone. Hopefully the topic name now reflects the discussion.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

I was indeed arrested for about 2 hours.

Tököl LHTL

I understand that you don’t want to name the airfield, but how about the country?

Was it an EU member state?

Glenswinton, SW Scotland, United Kingdom

Which is probably standard procedure on suspicion of breach of immigration rules. But thereafter no charges were filed IIUC.

LFPT, LFPN

The official line (from a french customs officer 2 weeks ago).

You MUST make your first landing at a designated border crossing airfield. If you don’t, you could be liable for a 30,000 eur fine and 2 years imprisonment.

HOWEVER if you divert due weather or emergency, no problem. Just phone customs on arrival, tell them where you are, and no further action.

What I often see done in practice (not by me !) : people filing IFR to a customs airfield, then cancelling IFR in the latter stages of the approach and breaking off to a VFR airfield close-by. There seem to be very few checks when this happens.

LFCS (Bordeaux Léognan Saucats)
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