Crashed plane's owner defends safety record

[mhm]

THE company which owns the light aircraft that crashed shortly after takeoff at Cranfield Airport this week had its licence suspended last year over 'administrative oversights'.

Hinton Pilot Flight Training, which has leased a building at Cranfield since January and has 15 
aircraft there, had its registration suspended by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in November for failures over properly carrying out its administrative functions. It was later reinstated.

The owner, Christopher Alexander, was also 
prosecuted by the CAA last year for not having an up-to-date medical certificate but was later 
acquitted of the charges.

On Wednesday the G-BGBN PA38 Tomahawk, built in 1978, went down while practising a procedure at around 1.45pm
http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/News/Crashed-planes-owner-defends-safety-record-20130609080000.htm