Faked plane crash brings jail sentence

A Canterbury pilot who faked insurance claims on an aircraft he said he "ditched" in the sea was today sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.

Howard Laurence Jamison, 46, was granted leave to apply for home detention by Judge Michael Green in Timaru District Court.

Jamison, of Ashburton and Twizel, pleaded guilty to two charges of fraud, admitting he staged his air crash off the South Canterbury coast in an elaborate scheme to use insurance money to save his failing sky-diving company.

Judge Green noted the scheme was not a spur of the moment decision.

Jamison had gone to trouble of buying 40 litres of fuel, had filed a flight plan with Airways Corporation, then called it to say he had to ditch in the sea.

"Had this matter gone to trial with a not guilty plea, the starting point would have been three years' imprisonment," he said.

He had deducted 18 months due to the guilty plea, Jamison's co-operation with police, the fact he posed no risk to public on completion of his sentence, and the significant media publicity the case attracted.

Jamison got leave to apply for home detention "by a very narrow margin", Judge Green said.

He was given two months to pay full reparation of $38,250 to one insurance company, and $225,000 to the other.

An application to defer the sentence for two months' to give Jamison time to arrange his business affairs was declined.

Jamison had pleaded guilty to two charges of dishonestly using documents with intent to defraud.

He was director and sole shareholder of Alpine Aviation Ltd in July 2004 when he ordered a 12 metre shipping container to be delivered to his hangar at Ashburton Airport.

The trial was told that he dismantled his company Cessna 185E aircraft's wings and tail and packed them into the container, which he had moved to an Ashburton storage depot.

He drove to Timaru Airport where he filled two containers with about 40 litres of fuel, recording the amount in the Cessna's fuel log. He then telephoned Airways Corporation and logged a flight path from Timaru to Ashburton.

Police said he then drove to a beach just north of the Omihi River mouth where he made another call to Airways saying that he had been forced to ditch the aircraft in the sea off the South Canterbury coast.

He drove back to Ashburton and later reported that he managed to escape from the downed Cessna and swum ashore using plywood flooring from the plane and two life jackets.

- NZPA