Balloon Safaris Pilot

Gains Support  from USA

Lawyer

From:

Donna C Marron

To: Department of Police

United Kingdom

September 19, 2012

I am writing this letter on behalf of Nigel Pogmore in relation to his interview under caution to be held on September 20, 2012. I have corresponded with Pogmore since shortly after September 29, 2010 when my father Harvey Marron was killed on a balloon flight operated by Serengeti Balloon Safaris in Tanzania. (The company purportedly operating the balloon is a Tanzania company called Tourism and Public Relations Services, Ltd. but control over the operation is exerted by a related English company called Serengeti Balloon Safaris Ltd. Anthony Pascoe and Colin MacKinnon are principals of both companies. I will refer to the companies collectively in this letter as SBS.) My father's fiancee Grace Weinberg survived the crash but was badly injured. A 55 year old Danish passenger, Kurt Hansen, also died. Mr Hanson's wife jetty Hansen survived with serious injuries. Their friends on the flight, a dentist and his wife, also were injured and traumatized. Ms. Hanson and her friends have settled with SBS on condition that they cannot give witness statements in litigation regarding the crash on September 29, 2010. The remaining two passengers, also injured, were Mexican.

The details of the crash, confirmed by the Tanzanian government's final investigative report, are shocking. The other scheduled flight to be flown concurrently with the fatal one was cancelled by the pilot due to high winds. The fatal flight proceeded, nonetheless with a trainee pilot at the helm. Though a more experienced pilot was on board, the man at the controls, on day so windy was a 23 year old trainee with only 120 hours of flying experience. After a short flight and unsuccessful landing attempt the balloon crashed into a tree. My father and Mr. Hansen were badly injured by the impact with the tree. Subsequently, because the balloon lacked a rapid deflation device, the partially deflated balloon travelled a considerable distance repeatedly bashing the basket of the balloon against the ground. All the passengers except Grace were thrown from the basket by these impacts. Grace was trapped in the basket by her arm which was caught in the balloon's rigging. Her arm was so mangled as a result it required skin grafts and the bone that was broken could not be set. Rescue of the survivors took many hours because Tanzania lacks search and rescue capability and the Kenyan rescue team was denied permission to land when it initially approached the crash site and had to return to Nairobi to obtain landing permissions.

Almost immediately after learning of my father's death my husband found Pogmore's website voicing safety concerns Pogmore believed were present in SBS's operations when Pogmore was the safety officer for SBS . The website reports that Pogmore expressed safety concerns to management and was fired. Pogmore believes he was fired because he expressed the safety concerns. SBS claims Pogmore was fired for other reasons. I do not have a position on this dispute. All I can say is that I am one hundred percent convinced that some of the very safety concerns, Pogmore articulated are among the reasons the SBS balloon crashed on September 29, 2010 and my father died. Pogmore's website merely expresses his personal observations and opinions. In response, SBS publicly refuted Pogmore's postings and castigated Pogmore.

Litigation opened in Massachusetts Federal Court as to SBS's responsibility for my father's death and Grace's injuries and suffering. By Order dated September 19, 2012, the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts held it did not have “personal jurisdiction" over SBS. An appeal or motion for reconsideration will be due thirty days from date of the Order. Pogmore has submitted affidavits in support of my family's and Grace's positions in the lawsuit.

Though the details are largely unknown, due to the apparent lack of concern by the government of Nepal for legal due process, SBS and/or its principals have pursued criminal proceedings against Pogmore there. Whether intended by SBS and/or its principals or not, the proceedings resulted in threats to the life and safety of Pogmore and his wife. Pogmore requested help from the UK police regarding this matter but was refused. I am pleased, therefore, that the UK police are now interested in interviewing Pogmore even though the interview apparently will take place under caution as SBS and/or its principals, are incredibly, alleging Pogmore has committed a crime.

I simply cannot imagine any factual basis for such an allegation. Pogmore has expressed his opinions, correct or incorrect, on the safety of operations at a company that formerly employed him as a safety officer. That his predictions of disaster came true is no basis for a criminal charge. I ask you (the UK police) to please use the interview to reassure yourself that no crime was committed by Pogmore and also to gather information about the purported basis of the criminal proceeding SBS instigated against Pogmore in Nepal and the real and extremely disconcerting safety threat to Pogmore and his wife, both from the UK, that have resulted.

Because my husband and son are British nationals, I have spent considerable time visiting family and friends in the UK. I practice law in America. The cornerstone for American law is English law. I can say, therefore, with considerable confidence that England recognizes and honors the fundamental right of free speech just as America does. Pogmore has every right to publish his personal observations and opinions regarding dangers posed by SBS's operations. Though it has no bearing on criminal charges, SBS cannot even legitimately claim harm by these opinions. It has published its response to Pogmore's postings. Both side's opinions as to SBS's operation and Pogmore's credibility have been extensively publicly aired. The public is free to believe one side or the other.

What has harmed SBS, if it has been harmed as SBS flights ceased for barely a day after the September 29, 2010 crash, is that people were killed and maimed by a balloon flight that should have been cancelled like the other scheduled flight that morning was, that should have used a balloon with rapid deflation equipment and that should have been piloted by the more experienced pilot on board rather than the 23-year-old trainee with 120 hours of flying experience. Pogmore had nothing to do with September 29, 2010 crash except that it might not have occurred or had such terrible effects had Pogmore's expressed concerns about the safety of SBS's operation been heeded.

I am happy to answer your questions about this letter or any other matter if it would be of assistance in resolving any concerns you have as to the legality of Pogmore's conduct concerning the operation of SBS or the September 29, 2010 crash. He is a hero in my book. I am deeply grateful for his efforts to promote the safety of a leisure activity conducted by a UK company. I only wish that, instead of firing him, SBS had applauded Pogmore's evident concern for passenger safety and implemented his safety recommendations.

Thanks very much for your attention to this important matter

Yours very truly Donna C Moran.