[Bob Kuczewski]

I bet Rick M. has this on his list of PG deaths

I wouldn't bet against that.

I spent the whole day today sitting across from the Torrey lawyer (Christopher Saldana) while he asked me question after question after queston. Robin Marien and Gabe Jebb were both there the whole day.

Saldana was trying to find a way to trick me into saying something (anything) he could use against me. It was a grueling day, and they have already scheduled a continuation of the deposition.

Toward the end, Saldana was trying to find a way to characterize my postings of news clips (above) as "defamation". I doubt that Saldana/Jebb/Marien have taken legal action against those news organizations for breaking those stories for over 10 years, but as soon as I begin putting the pieces together they cried "defamation".

[Bob Kuczewski]

During my deposition Thursday (April 25th, 2019), Robin Marien's lawyer (Christopher Saldana) took issue with the slides that I had presented to the San Diego City Council and posted here:

   https://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php ... =30#p26248

He had printed a copy of each of the 16 reported incidents and claimed that my posting of these documented news reports was "defamation" of his client.

I have to thank Mr. Saldana for raising the issue because it caused me to review the incidents and to discover that the only one which had been reported as a "hang glider" incident (March 25th, 2017) was, in fact, a paragliding incident. Here's the updated report from CBS 8:

PG_2017_03_25.png (130.47 KiB) Viewed 7654 times

The text (even in this updated article) says both "hang glider" and "paraglider", but the picture is clearly a paraglider harness. The "Times of San Diego" article (below) had incorrectly stated "hang glider", and showed a picture of the rescue equipment but not the pilot himself. So, thanks to Christopher Saldana, it's now clear that all 16 incidents were paragliding and none were hang gliding.

Times_of_SD_Report.png (326.35 KiB) Viewed 7653 times

[wingspan33]

Bob, You know they'll have to depose you again now, right?

I can't believe that they think they have any case against you.

Let's see, local TV stations and newspapers report on PG accidents at Air California Adventure's "flight park" and Bob re-publishes those reports here. Air California Adventure never sues the local TV stations or newspapers for defamation? Why not? Maybe they have better lawyers than Saldana? And more money to fight back against Air California Adventure? Could be. But Air California Adventure is intent on stopping someone who wants to save lives at the "flight park". Why? Because a safer "flight park" may just make less profit. Or maybe a NEW flight park operator would end ACA's profits all together.

Bob is a citizen journalist! And as such he has equal footing as do the local TV stations and newspapers. You can't sue someone for reporting the TRUTH! Well, they can try, but winning is another matter.

[Bob Kuczewski]

I can't believe that they think they have any case against you.
   ...
You can't sue someone for reporting the TRUTH! Well, they can try, but winning is another matter.

It was 4 years ago today that I read the first mentions of "SLAPP" on this forum in posts by dhmartens, Rick Masters, Joe Faust, and Scott Wise. You all got it right. This has been 4 years of Air California Adventure using their deep pockets to intimidate pilots and suppress information about their own misdeeds on our public property.

Thanks to each of you.   

[wingspan33]

Bob and others,

The article linked below is not directly on point but still has value to your situation. Basically the "Citizen Journalist" is the important part. The ruling, associated with damages suffered at the hands of the police, included that a person who captures news can be an Average Joe, and, therefore, protected by the Freedom of the Press. They don't have to be a trained and paid "Journalist". With modern technology anyone can become a Citizen Journalist.

As to copy and pasting News reported PG accidents at Torrey Pines, you are doing so using "modern technology". You are placing those news clips on a web forum site where members publish flying related news stories all the time! I would call many members here Citizen Journalists!

And taking TV news and newspaper images of accidents related to the concessionaire's facility can't be disconnected from taking a video of police misconduct. Air California Adventure, by way of their lease involving a city park, makes them a PUBLIC entity and probably even "public authorities" - similar to police.

The whole idea of the Press is to monitor and document the abuses of public authorities, and businesses that are granted power by a government. The Press then brings these things to light so abusers can be held accountable.

Bob is acting as a Citizen Journalist and holding Air California Adventure accountable for making false claims that flight activities supervised by their business are very safe when the documented history contradicts such a claim. Besides the people injured and killed, Air California Adventure does not want people to know they are falsely advertising the safety record their business. How much less business would they do if they HAD to list the numbers of accidents/injuries/fatalities per year going back to them taking over the concession?

https://www.niemanlab.org/2012/03/after ... g-lawsuit/

[dhmartens]

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Some other forum somewhere posted the names and dates of all deaths at Torrey in the past 20 or 30 years. I noticed many of the early ones were "Stuntmen" first time flying "prototype" equipment. Other than that the "Death Rate" seems comparable to other flying sites, but maybe not coastal flying sites? It would be interesting to see all of the faces of the dead in a collage like the 911 deaths.


https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/F ... 99353.html


A torrey pines death collage could be distributed at all California tourist sites. Disney would step in to keep their stock value the highest its been.

All you really have against them is false advertising of accident rate, remember shga said we had 380 flyable days a year, then 340, then 320, now 300 which is more accurate. Maybe they meant Palmdale was included.

Also would 40 hours of flight time insted of 30 hours caused the pilot to avoid looking at the Golden cloud/Sun Dog type phenomenon and kept his eyes on traffic? Maybe, Maybe.

[Bob Kuczewski]

the "Death Rate" seems comparable to other flying sites, but maybe not coastal flying sites?

First, we don't know the actual accident rate at Torrey. Many are never reported. USHPA covers the trail by immediately removing all traces of pilots, ratings, and instructors involved in fatal accidents. Call them and report what you find.

Second, the concessionaire has complete control of that site. They set the rules (H4 for hang gliding, P3 with 50 hours for paragliding). Yet we find that neither of the dead pilots had those qualifications. One was a brand new P3, and the other was a bramd new P1. On what ba$is does the concessionaire violate their own rules?

Third, this has been a recurring scenario: underqualified students "supposedly" under radio control crashing into each other. I reported it as Regional Director almost 10 years ago (long before the Hamby accident that contributed to USHPA's uninsurability). USHPA has ignored all problems at Torrey, and there have been consequences. USHPA is collapsing under the weight of their own corruption.

Finally, this accident was easily prevented by simply adhering to the rules already in place. We know that the primary danger at Torrey is crowding. This danger is aggravated by having inexperienced pilots flying in high density traffic. The concessionaire is responsible for limiting training during those high traffic periods. The evidence is clear that they've failed to do so - again and again.

[Bob Kuczewski]

Day 2 of my deposition by Christopher Saldana representing Air California Adventure

On the first day of my deposition (April 25th, 2019) I asked to make my own video recording of my own deposition for my own records. ACA and Saldana already had someone there to videotape me, but they wanted hundreds of dollars for me to buy a copy of my own deposition video. So I openly asserted that I would like to make my own copy and turned on my camera. Saldana objected, and my lawyer looked up the law. The law required 48 hours of notice. I had not given them that notice, and I considered asking for a postponement of 48 hours. Saldana complained that they had already arranged everything, so I reluctantly agreed to continue with my camera off.

Saldana then kept asking me the same questions 5 different ways each. After a long day he had not gotten through his questions. So we scheduled a second date of May 7th (today) for my deposition to be continued. I contacted my lawyer about following up with a formal request to videotape my own deposition, and on Friday, May 3rd, 2019 (around 5:20pm) a friend served the notice in person to Judy Shewry at the offices of Shewry and Saldana in San Diego.

Christopher Saldana complained to my lawyer that the service was after office hours on Friday and that made it somehow less than 48 hours from Friday at 5:20pm until Tuesday at 10am.

I appeared for my deposition at 10am today (May 7th, 2019) as required, and I again asserted my right to record my own deposition. I cited the personally served request delivered to their office on Friday. Saldana refused to allow it, and he threatened me with various court costs and attorney's fees if I didn't comply. We went round and round on the issue, and in the end he refused to conduct the deposition if I were recording it. I asserted 2 things:

First, I was within my rights and had complied with his 48 hour notice.
Second, there was no reason not to continue the deposition with me recording it.

Saldana would not budge, and he called off the deposition.

The interesting observation here is that Saldana knows that I could purchase a copy from the videographer. So it's not a matter of whether or not I have a right to the video. It's simply a matter of whether he can make me pay hundreds of dollars to get that copy. He knows that his client has deep pockets from the documented million dollars he brings in every year via the free lease of Torrey Pines from the City of San Diego. So his tactic is to simply outspend me. Any time he can force me to spend a dollar on something (like video records), that's one less dollar that I have to spend on other aspects of my defense. It's a disgusting demonstration of what's wrong with our legal system.

[dhmartens]

Go to the 8 minute mark to see Kyle O'Glee get in trouble at Torrey


Funston had a fatal accident as well with a hang glider
https://abc7news.com/hang-glider-pilot- ... n/5263729/

[Bob Kuczewski]

It's interesting to look back to the past with what we know now. This article was from 2015:

Reader2015-06.png (340.28 KiB) Viewed 7442 times

See: https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2015/jun/17/cover-keep-out/?amp&page=all/

At that time ACA was claiming some "right" to keep me out. They failed to prove that in court and I've been able to go to Torrey for the last 4 years. I could have been flying for all those 4 years if it hadn't been for the rotten people running USHPA.

My initial arrest in November of 2014 was clear retaliation for my expert testimony in the Shannon Hamby case in September of 2014.

History has proven me right in my claim to be able to be at the Gliderport as any citizen. I can now go there any time and I go there regularly since 2015 without arrest.

History has also proven me right about the lack of oversight of training practices. We now have 2 dead pilots who didn't have the qualifications to fly at Torrey, but were somehow flying there anyway.

Tick Tock ...