A flight instructor from British Columbia claims that the pilot of a plane that crashed in northern Ontario with two wanted men on board advertised flights on a plane that is not registered for commercial use.
Azam Azami, a flight instructor based in Chiliwak, British Columbia, said he marked an online ad published by Abhi Handa in a report to Transport Canada in December, more than four months before the same plane in the ad crashed.
Azami says he noticed that the image of the plane, posted on Facebook Marketplace, is not usually used for commercial purposes, and when he searched for it in a public database, he found that it was only privately licensed.
Although Handa shared with him an image of its commercial pilot’s license, Azami said the plane still needs to be registered for commercial use before it can pick up paying passengers.
“(Handa) posted on Facebook about charter services and charging for a privately registered aircraft. This is illegal because it must be a commercially registered aircraft with proper checks and balances, “Azami said in an interview.
“I reported on it because I am a flight instructor and I teach my students how to be conscious and good pilots, to make decisions and know, to follow the rules, because the rules are there to keep everyone safe.”
Handa has been identified by Ontario police as the man flying a small plane that crashed in northwestern Ontario last month, killing all four on board.
Police have identified other passengers as Gene Larkamp, who was wanted in Thailand for murder, Duncan Bailey and Hankun Hong.
Bailey has the same full name and age as a man who violated his bail conditions in British Columbia, where he was charged with a separate murder plot.
The crash is being investigated by the Transportation Safety Board, the Ontario Police and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, which is the British Columbia’s anti-gang unit.
Azami’s report of December 7, 2021 to Transport Canada includes screenshots of the advertisements that Handa allegedly published, as well as a transcript of the messages they exchanged.
Azami’s allegations were first reported in the Vancouver Sun.
The registration number of the Piper Cherokee aircraft coincides with what the Transport Safety Council confirmed was the registration number of the crashed aircraft.
Azami said he initially pretended to be an interested customer to gather more information about Handa’s flight services and qualifications.
“Something didn’t look right,” Azami said.
In an exchange of Facebook Messenger provided to The Canadian Press, Handa said passengers and pilots on board would be insured and the aircraft maintained in accordance with Transport Canada standards.
Handa said Azami’s charters anywhere in Canada cost $ 300 an hour per person, and the plane has a capacity for two to three passengers.
He shared a copy of his revised license showing a commercial pilot license designation for small and multi-engine land planes.
Azami said this type of certification will allow Handa to work with either an approved airline or a commercially registered aircraft, but not a privately registered one.
Records from the official Canadian Civil Aircraft Register show that the aircraft was registered for personal use.
Transport Canada stated that it was informed in December 2021 that a private pilot was offering air taxi services and immediately began to consider the matter, but could not share further details as it included information from third parties.
Broadly speaking, however, the agency said someone with a private pilot’s license could only fly an aircraft “of the class and type for which the license was approved.” The same is true for a pilot with a commercial license who provides commercial air services.
To transport paying passengers, a company must take further steps by applying to Transport Canada for an Air Operator Certificate and then applying for an internal license to operate an air transport service between destinations at the Canadian Transport Agency.
“From Amy Smart to Vancouver.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 9, 2022.
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