PC gone mad, again

[SMOKEU]

"A commercial pilot was today fined $3750 for the "gravely offensive" act of hovering a helicopter over the summit of Aoraki/Mt Cook on Christmas Eve in 2011.

Jason Manderson, 40, of Waikanae, pleaded guilty by letter to the Timaru District Court, to a charge of illegal aircraft hovering, under bylaw 10 (2) of the Mount Cook National Park Bylaws 1981.

Under the bylaws it is an offence to land on or hover over any site within the Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park which is not a designated aerodrome.

In the summary of facts read to the court, the Department of Conservation (DOC) said the 3754-metre peak represented, to Ngai Tahu, "the most sacred of ancestors, from whom Ngai Tahu descend and who provide the iwi with its sense of communal identity, solidarity and purpose".

In April 2012, DOC's attention was drawn to two images on Facebook of a Squirrel helicopter positioned on the summit of Aoraki/Mt Cook.

Copies of the photographs were obtained and examination revealed they had been taken shortly after 9am on December 24, 2011, a minute apart, from opposite sides of the peak.

Manderson was piloting the helicopter, operated by South Westland-based Fox and Franz Josef Heliservices, on a commercial scenic flight with five passengers.

Spoken to on July 12, 2012, Manderson confirmed he had placed the photographs on Facebook.

At the time he claimed another pilot in the area had suggested that if he was to fly level with the summit he could get photos "to look like he was flying over the top of the mountain".

He denied landing on or hovering over the summit, claiming it would have been easy for someone to doctor the photos to make it appear he had landed.

In passing sentence, Judge Joanna Maze said the offence was "seen as one of sacrilege to those to whom Aoraki/Mt Cook is of central cultural importance".

"The fact that you did it in the interests of trade and self-aggrandisement is a double offence," she said.

Judge Maze said Manderson's action was seen as "gravely offensive" and as a result her starting point for sentencing had to be the maximum penalty available, a fine of $5000.

She gave Manderson credit for his early guilty plea in setting the fine at $3750."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crim...vely-offensive


So why the fuck do the "iwi" have any right to claim that helicopters can't hover over a mountain?!

[imdying]

Sacrilege! How dare he anger the imaginary gods that inhabit the mountain.


Just how fucked do you have to be to believe that crap? Or put another way, are Maori's more or less fucked than Ed?

[Nova.]

need to get rid of the Maori's...

I'm an atheist but i bet if that was Christians or whatever they wouldn't have whinged.

[328FTW]

As a white person I'm offended this went to court. Can I fine the maori $20,000 for this?

[nodrog:Me]

.....So why the fuck do the "iwi" have any right to claim that helicopters can't hover over a mountain?!

cos they are air whores

[The End]

represented, to Ngai Tahu, "the most sacred of ancestors, from whom Ngai Tahu descend and who provide the iwi with its sense of communal identity, solidarity and purpose".

So what happens when someone climbing the mountain needs to take a massive shit? I'd imagine that's more offensive than hovering a helicopter over a mountain.

[Akzle]

someone forgot to pay the taniwha tax, obviously.

[caseye]

no AkZ that site foreman from the Waikato, ( the guy who shot the taniwha, so the expressway could continue past Meremere) he was down there not so long ago.
Problem solved. What a crock of shit.
If he'd landed there he'd have fallen off one side or the other and we'd be talking about the dozy prick who tried to land a chopper there.
This tells me more about the so called judge and their perception of how most! NZ'ers would react to such a significant (NOT) breach of summit etiquette , than anything else.
Complete cock up from start to finish.
Long as no snow is moved and or avalanches are caused WHO the hell cares how close a helium chopter comes to the summit?

[Hitcher]

Forgetting about racist nonsense for a moment, surely the issue here is whether a pilot of an aircraft can be trusted to comply with CAA regulations?

[pete376403]

Forgetting about racist nonsense for a moment, surely the issue here is whether a pilot of an aircraft can be trusted to comply with CAA regulations?

CAA regs? bylaw 10 (2) of the Mount Cook National Park Bylaws 1981

[Madness]

Forgetting about racist nonsense for a moment, surely the issue here is whether a pilot of an aircraft can be trusted to comply with CAA regulations?

So somebody infringes the Mount Cook National Park Bylaws 1981 and you're worried they then won't comply with CAA regulations? Isn't that like somebody caught speeding may go on to commit an offence under the Crimes Act?

ARSE! I got pipped to the post.

[Deano]

Hahaha - I know Jason from from early twenties and used to go to college with his older brother.

He was never one to abide by the rules LOL

[Ocean1]

Forgetting about racist nonsense for a moment, surely the issue here is whether a pilot of an aircraft can be trusted to comply with CAA regulations?

He denied landing on or hovering over the summit. He also pleaded guilty.

Either way I have no problem at all with people breaking fucking stupid rules.

[avgas]

Funny aint it - don't see anyone crying Utu over the fact it was called "Cook" for 50 years.

Hope the local tribes don't need to call westpac when one of them gets sick doing a ritual up there..........ah thats right. None of them have even climbed it.

[Milts]

Yes this does seem mental, and I disagree entirely.

However exactly the same thing would be happening (in reverse) if someone did something equally culturally insensitive in a cathedral, synagogue, etc - or even to a nation's flag. No more or less ridiculous than any of that.