Writer

Charlotte Bailey

The Air Charter Association (ACA) is highlighting the dangers posed by illegal charter flights via its upcoming online campaign, Fly Legal Day, on January 21. As well as commemorating the anniversary of a high-profile fatal accident, the campaign also “aims to educate the industry and the public, to prevent the occurrence of future air tragedies,” explained The ACA.
The industry has established its own reporting mechanism to allow air charter professionals and members of the public to report details of suspected illegal charter flights. This initiative was prompted by a fatal accident in 2019 that killed&nbsp;soccer player Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson when a Piper Malibu, operating as an illegal charter, crashed into the English Channel en route between Nantes in France and Cardiff in the UK.&nbsp;
In March 2020, a UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch report <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2020-03-13/sala-report-highlights-dangers-illegal-charters">revealed</a> that “neither the pilot nor aircraft had the required licenses or permissions to operate commercially.” In November 2021, a UK court <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2021-11-12/aircraft-manager-jailed-illegal-uk-charter-flight">jailed David Henderson</a> for 18 months after finding him guilty of endangering the safety of an aircraft.&nbsp;The charge resulted from&nbsp;his role in arranging the flight.
ACA immediately passes on information supplied through its reporting mechanism to the relevant civil aviation authority. In 2025, there were two such occasions where information passed on via the group led to suspected illegal charter flights being prevented.
Sharing the campaign’s message of ‘Use it [an accredited charter broker], Check it, Report it,’ ACA chief executive Glenn Hogben urged people to “know what is legal and fly safe.”&nbsp;
In response, ACA, the European Business Aviation Association, and the British Business and General Aviation Association jointly called for higher penalties for illegal charter operators. These included “higher sentences, more substantial fines, the removal of pilots’ licenses and seizure of aircraft” for individuals who knowingly flout the rules.

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