The pilot did not have to pay a 100,000 fine for helping with firefighting in Hřensk.

The pilot appealed against the original fine of 100,000 crowns. The Civil Aviation Authority (ÚCL) decided on his objections last Thursday and sent its decision to Jiří Vlk.

“The participant in the proceedings was found to have committed the crime of negligence by continuing eight flights as pilot-in-command of a helicopter on 26/07/2022, during which he extinguished a fire in the Czech. Switzerland National Park without a permit in accordance with § 74 and § 76 of the Civil Aviation Act,” January 12 says the result of the first office. Novinky.cz.

The server received an anonymized version of the document based on Law 106/1999. Free access to information. The pilot had to pay “only” one thousand crowns as costs for the infringement proceedings. The decision is still not final and the pilot can appeal against it.

As a result, the Civil Aviation Authority canceled the fine of Rs 1 lakh imposed on Vlk last October.

“Given the company’s interest in protecting aviation safety, health and property, although the committed act cannot be considered completely harmless, the social harm of the committed act is so low that imposing a reprimand seems sufficient to protect the company’s interests,” it says in the justification received by Nowinki.

The fire occurred on July 23 last year. Jiří Vlk immediately responded to the call to help firemen issued by the Regional Directorate of Fire and Rescue Service.

“He acted according to instructions and, like all volunteers, was effective at the scene,” said Pavla Jakobkova, a spokeswoman for the General Directorate of the Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic.

However, the Civil Aviation Authority fined the pilot in October. The wolf must have committed several crimes that endangered other volunteers and firefighters.

The Czech Switzerland National Park Administration later became aware of the situation. “The situation was very complicated, in the first days of the fire, everyone was at the scene. It was impossible to keep all the volunteers under control in this case. Everyone behaved as they felt at the time. So it is difficult to assess the situation,” the park’s spokesman Tomas Salov said earlier.

For example, it was alleged that the pilot did not have permission to land at the heliport of the Medical Rescue Service of the Ústí region or flew below the permitted altitude and over low barriers without the required permission.

Similarly, in 2021, the commission imposed about 50 fines for violating the rules. “The office does not see this as a struggle, but as a tool to find a goal,” said ÚCL spokesman Vítězslav Hezký.

Jiří Vlk made eight flights in a row during the intervention at Hřensk. “These are activities with necessary special training, procedures for specific high-risk activity and so on. So these are not just bureaucratic obstacles. The office takes public interests into account when making decisions, but it cannot ignore violations or even persistent violations of the rules established by the legal system of the Czech Republic.” The Office of Civil Aviation commented.

However, according to the pilot, there was no danger. “We are the only company in the Czech Republic that cooperates with firefighters and we have training for that,” explained Vlk Seznam Zprávy Vlk.

The entire situation was reviewed based on his appeal. But the original decision to impose a fine is said to have surprised him. He took part in a similar event three years ago and was not fined. The matter was handled by the Civil Aviation Authority.

“I was in the trial. I can’t predict the outcome,” Jiří Vlk said on the day of the decision. The current report of the pilot Seznam Správy is looking for.