A New Zealand pilot was in court this week on fraud charges related to lying about having ditched his Cessna 185 in July 2004, according to the New Zealand Herald. Howard Jamison, 46, had reported that he took off from Timaru Airport and was flying offshore when the airplane’s engine surged and stopped. He said he dead-sticked into the water, and was able to remove part of the airplane floor, which he rode into shore as the airplane sank. Jamison submitted an accident report and insurance claim, but the wreckage was never found. The Cessna was reportedly found last month, undamaged, stored in a shipping container. Jamison has said that if found guilty, he may sell his three other aircraft if necessary to repay the insurance of NZ$258,000. A report by the Civil Aviation Authority concluded that since the wreckage had not been found, the cause of engine failure could not be determined.
