Penno found guilty of manslaughter

Press, 16 February 1980, Page 6

Penno found guilty of manslaughter

John Eric Penno, aged 35, the Otago Aero Club’s chief flying instructor, was yesterday found guiljy of manslaughter and will be sentenced by Mr Justice Somers in the Supreme Court at Dunedin on Friday. The jury returned its verdict after deliberating for 4J hours. Penno was found not guilty on the first indictment — causing the death of David George Innes, aged 22, at Taieri Airport, on September 11, by an unlawful act by flying an aircraft in contravention of the Civil Aviation Act, 1974.

But the jury found Penno guilty on the alternative count, of committing manslaughter by failing to take responsible precautions while piloting the aircraft. The charges concerned an accident at the airport in which Mr Innes was killed when, struck by the left wing of a Turbulent ultralight aircraft being flown- by Penno.

Half-an-hour before bringing in its verdict, the jury asked His Honour whether it would be proper to add a rider to the finding. Although His Honour confirmed that this was admissible, no rider was atteched to the guilty verdict. - Penno showed no emotion when the jury foreman an-

, nounced the verdict and was ■ granted a remand on bail. Earlier, Penno, told the jury that he was unable to explain why two witnesses had testified that they saw a flour bomb leave the aircraft before it crashed. Penno was asked by his counsel (Mr. J. B. Robertson) whether he would admit to the jury his guilt if the prosecution’s case “was the truth.” “Yes sir, because I could not live with that,” Penno replied. Penno contended that he did not know how the flour escaped from the cockpit, but that it was ejected on impact after the plane struck turbulence. Penno said that before taking off in the Turbulent, 1.-j and .Albert Gary Jones, another flying instructor, had talked about flour bombing and two bombs had been made up. He had intended either to dust Mr Innes as he mowed grass, or to use the flour over a farm at Waikouaiti. He had no intention of throwing the bombs directly from the aircraft — dropping a solid object would be dangerous, and “could even kill.” The flour, he said ’ in cross-examination, could, be used to warn Mr Innes that he intended to land, if the , tractor was on the runway.