PA46 Malibu N264DB missing in the English Channel

Romain wrote:

Some strange info on French press.
They said that two pilots showed up at Nantes Airport and the most experienced one refuse to do the flight.
In the scenario I’m thinking off: Private airplane, owner flown with a professional pilot/instructor on the right seat.
Weather not really good maybe some technical issue with the airplane. The guy how as the knowledge/experience/proper IFR licence refuse to go for his own reasons and the “owner” decided we was better than his pilot and departed anyway…

I hear this information (and hence your speculation) is incorrect.

Neil wrote:

I hear this information (and hence your speculation) is incorrect.

Not sure but from CRM/HPL it is typically the least experienced who will refuse to do the flight but will still go anyway, having tww pilots for a go-only mission will not help neither, tough a more experienced pilot would have flown IFR in class A by default or landed quickly in Alderney?

Listening to the audio the engine sounds ‘smooth’ but there are surges which are similar to the turbo kicking in/out.

The variations in engine tone could be due to the changing position/orientation of the mobile phone and its microphone as the agitated speaker is looking around.

Christopher wrote:

The variations in engine tone could be due to the changing position/orientation of the mobile phone and its microphone as the agitated speaker is looking around.

That would change the intensity of the sound but I don’t see how it would change the frequency, specially in a single engine aircraft where interfering sound from another engine doesn’t exist.

According to this source the pilot was a Dave Ibbotson. The article continues to say “Mr Ibbotson, who worked as a gas engineer based in Crowle, is believed to have had extensive experience carrying parachute enthusiasts on flights from private airfields”

Dimme wrote:

WarleyAir wrote:

Sure piston not authorised for commercial by EASA.
It is an I know of an AOC

Single Engine Piston CAT ops are vfr day only. There shouldn’t be icing problems on a day vfr flight.

There are some questions @TimR with the article you posted.

It is understood Mr Ibbotson, had been hired along with the Norfolk-registered single engine plane …

• “Hired” implies commercial operations. As @Snoopy mentions above, this is highly unlikely since it was night.
• “Norfolk-registered” sounds strange, as they posted a picture of an N-reg aircraft.

If he was indeed hired as a PPL, this will be very bad for GA.

Dimme wrote:

If he was indeed hired as a PPL, this will be very bad for GA.

Even worse for the two missing as for GA.

There will be no paperwork proof that he was “hired”, apart from some banknotes floating in the channel.

Football club president owns airplane. Tells player he will send him with his private plane. Gives PPL “friend” some pocket money to fly.

@Dimme I had just come across that info from various news sources. I think journalists are likely pretty loose on their aviation terminology so unclear what “hired” means in this context.

In regards to the “Norfolk-registered” bit.. presume they just got that from here. Just happens to have a Norfolk address.

Can a PPL do parachute operations? Assuming they’re not all his friends that are jumping… (pretty awesome friends if that’s the case – I struggle to convince people to come flying with me altogether )

TimR wrote:

Can a PPL do parachute operations? Assuming they’re not all his friends that are jumping… (pretty awesome friends if that’s the case – I struggle to convince people to come flying with me altogether )