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| Great White North |
| Questions abound in Security Aviation trial |
| 2006-05-20 |
| The continuing saga of the seized rocket launcher pods that attach to the L-39 trainer. The gov't sez that they classified as a destructive device. Others say no, they got here legally. This whole incident came to light a while ago when an L-39 crashed during an ILS approach into Ketchikan, Alaska, killing the pilot. It seemed that the repo man was taking the jet back. Security Aviation bought the jets, and the pods, but *ahem* journalists up here have never seriously looked into what Security wanted the jets for, and why the pods. Anchorage, Alaska - Week one of the trial against security aviation and Robert Kane is over. Both Kane and the company face federal weapons charges stemming from two jet fighter rocket pods. The FBI raided Kane’s home and the company’s hangars and offices in early February. The trial began Monday and jurors already have a lot to take in. A week's worth of transcripts. Do Soviet-made rocket pods look like destructive devices? According to federal prosecutors, a destructive device is “any weapon by whatever name known which will, or which may be readily converted to, expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or other propellant, and for which the barrel or barrels of which have a bore of more than one-half inch in diameter.” That definition could apply to a piece of schedule 40 steel pipe, if you p*ss off the govt. These pods have nearly a two-and-a-quarter-inch bore, and prosecutors say as former war weapons of foreign governments, they require special handling. “When rocket launchers, implements of war, things which are designed as weapons for warfare are imported into the United States, the importer must register them, and in so doing, the importer must essentially destroy them,” prosecutor James Barkeley said on May 16, 2006. The task of jurors will determine if the pods meet that criteria, and whether Security Aviation or Robert Kane knew that or should have known. “First of all, they’re not a destructive device and when you conclude that these are not a destructive device under their statute, you have to find both defendants not guilty,” said defense attorney Paul Stockler. Brilliant statement, Mr. Darrow. But there are a lot of unanswered questions. Like, if they’re illegal, how did they get to the United States before someone got their hands on them to sell on the online auction site eBay? They probably came in through Mexico. “And back in 1991, he imported some planes, and with those planes, he cleared through customs these two rocket pods,” Stockler said on May 16, 2006. “You’re going to hear testimony that one of the government’s witnesses attached these to the wings of an L-39 airplane, and the airplane talked to these things,” said Barkeley. "Hello, Rocket Pod. This is the aircraft." "Hello Aircraft, this is Rocket Pod. I hear you 5 x 5, over." "Now what, Rocket Pod?" "I dunno, Aircraft. I have this empty feeling." Today the defense asked a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives expert called by the government if the pods, which were before jurors in the courtroom, looked any different than the pod attached to a privately owned jet in a photo. The expert said no. But Minh Venator, an L-39 mechanic from California, turned the tables again. He testified that the pod in the photo was one he refurbished himself. It was fixed up to appear intact after arriving torn up and damaged. It was a requirement of the plane’s owner to get a legal permit to own it. Next up to the stand was Bernd Rehn, the man who Venator says cut the pod apart. He’s also the same East German L-39 expert Security Aviation hired as a consultant, and the same man a former employee at the company claims inspected the Security Aviation pods and said they were “good to go.” The trial resumes Monday. Prosecutors have two more witnesses to put on, then the defense takes its turn. |
| Posted by:Alaska Paul |
| #2 That would be fine, if I had a fuel card to pay for the go juice. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2006-05-20 18:37 |
| #1 But Paul... are you going to tell me you never wanted an L-39 with rocket pods? |
| Posted by: Phil 2006-05-20 11:53 |