Private jet seized by The Sheriffs Office
by David Carter on 01 June 2011
It’s not just ash clouds that can ground an aeroplane!
High Court Enforcement Officers (HCEOs) are entitled to seize aircraft using a writ of Fi Fa (fieri facias) to enforce a judgment. And The Sheriffs Office did just that, last week.
Our client had a judgment against a private jet charter company operating from Southend Airport and instructed The Sheriffs Office to enforce it via a writ of Fi Fa. Our officer attended and seized one of the aircraft belonging to the debtor in the hangar.
When seizing an aircraft, the officer will do the following:
- Fix a copy of the writ on the inside of the aircraft (in the cockpit) and on the outside, to let the pilot and anyone entering the plane know that it has been seized
- Tell airport security that the plane has been seized
- Tell the airport authorities not to accept any flight plans for that aircraft
- Immobilise the plane with chocks
The officer will also need to secure all the documentation for the plane, including full service and maintenance records. These service records are normally kept where the plane is serviced; without them, the plane will merely sell at scrap value. A copy of the insurance certificate, registration details and airworthiness certificate should all be kept in the cockpit.
In the case just enforced by our officer, the debtor paid in full the same day by bank draft, so once funds were received, the private jet was released from seizure.
© Sheriffs High Court Enforcement Ltd. Please contact us to request permission to reproduce this article.
Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Sheriffs High Court Enforcement Ltd, trading as The Sheriffs Office. Sheriffs High Court Enforcement Ltd does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. The author will not be held responsible for any comments posted by visitors to this site. Please note that this article does not constitute legal advice. The author has used his best endeavours to make this article as accurate and complete as possible, but requests that the reader be aware that the law of England and Wales frequently changes. The author strongly advises the reader to take legal advice before embarking on any enforcement action.
