Sources claim foreign pilots’ attempt to seize aircraft was foiled when business owner locked them in a private hangar until police came

Two Canadian pilots and the owners of leased aircraft allegedly tried to seize
an airplane from a private hangar, using force and without the permission of
any authority or the Police, informed sources tell REAL News.

Reports say the action alarmed the owner of the business so much – as there
was no one around to help – that the doors to the hangar had to be locked to
prevent the pair seizing the aircraft. In the process, the Canadians reportedly
were locked in with the aircraft until the Police arrived.

Ironically, the sources say, the business owner reportedly was then charged
for unlawful imprisonment. However, it is not known what charges – if any –
were laid against the alleged perpetrators.

Responding to the alleged situation, one aviation practitioner decries the
looseness now governing the local industry. The professional says the Airport
Authority’s failure to operate a rules-and-regulation-driven aerodrome has
reduced what was once a growing sector to “confused and disgruntled
employees.”

Worse, the person claims that “management has been without guidance at the
top for years.”

There are accusations of improprieties at the top level, this source says, and
certain behaviours have filtered down and through the staff. Accordingly, it is
this disrespect for international rules that allowed the two foreign pilots to
breach hangar rules to seize an aircraft, the source complains.
In the industry, hangars would be off-limits to unauthorized persons, as
aviation is considered “the second most dangerous industry in the world,” the
professional notes.

But too many irregularities are permitted in these developing countries, the
source continues – whereas, in the First World, these things would merit much
more than the slap on the wrist that happens here.

Further, the source adds, the lack of knowledge that is evident in the Police
and “others who pretend to regulate aviation” leads to tolerance of breaches
that, in other places, would end the careers of aviation professionals.
The person charges that Antigua has become “a secret breach station” where
irregularities reportedly take place on a daily basis.

Those reporting this alleged incident say this should not be allowed to become
the norm; otherwise, carelessness and ignorance of the laws will ruin the
business that conscious aviators and technicians have built over the years.