Clutha FAI: David Traill's close colleague gives insight into mind of a pilot

On November 29, 2013, the Police Scotland aircraft G-SPAO fell through the roof of the Clutha Vaults Bar, killing Mr Traill, and two police air observers on board, Kirsty Nelis, 36; and Tony Collins, 43.

Yesterday pilot Andrew Rooney gave evidence at the Clutha Fatal Accident Inquiry, in front of Sheriff Craig Turnbull.

The court has previously heard on the night of the doomed flight, the helicopter was called out to a false alarm of a body on the line at Oatlands.

It then travelled on a search operation to Midlothian before continuing on to Bothwell, Uddingston and finally Bargeddie before turning back to Glasgow.

Towards the end of the flight, the helicopter gave out five low fuel warnings on the caution advisory display (CAD). On receiving a warning, the court has been told, a pilot should land within 10 minutes.

However, Mr Traill flew on.

Another point raised in evidence has been that the fuel pumps in the aircraft were switched off.

A helicopter pilot, the court has been told, would check the fuel pumps were switched on to ensure fuel was travelling from the main tank to the engine supply tanks.

Once an alarm had sounded on board, the aircraft carries a set of flight reference cards, which should be followed and which include a direction to check the pump switches.

Mr Rooney, 54, now working as a private pilot in Dubai, was the unit chief pilot for Glasgow Heliport.

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Mr Smith asked if the pilot, prior to the Clutha crash, was aware of "anomalies or fluctuations with the CAD?"

He replied: "Some fluctuations, yes." But he added these were not "dramatic changes".

Mr Rooney described a problem where, on refuelling, when the aircraft was nearly full of fuel the display would begin to go down, showing the tank emptying when it was not.

The pilot also described a situation where, on take off, the fuel display may be obviously wrong but that he would take the decision to continue flying.

Mr Smith said: "You would take the chance?"

Mr Rooney replied: "It's not about taking chances, it's about working out logically what the situation is."

Sheriff Turnbull questioned the witness, asking: "If you have a low fuel warning surely the safest course of action is to get that helicopter back on the ground as soon as possible.

"You wouldn't keep flying."

Mr Rooney said: "You could consider it depending on where you were and what the job was you were doing."

He confirmed a pilot would not necessarily alert Air Traffic Control about a low fuel warning or caution, saying this was a"subjective question for every pilot".

"It's a possibility [a pilot would keep flying] simply because the checks that are required for the low fuel warning presume other issues and if none of those issues are in place, it's possible he would think it was a spurious reading."

Mr Rooney added that every pilot is trained to defer to what the rest of the crew want and if a crew member asked to land, they would.

Asked whether a pilot would check the fuel pump switches, Mr Rooney said there was a"75 per cent chance" they would.

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Mr Smith said: "If you follow the procedures in the event the low fuel warnings were on, you would check the switches and you would know instantly the low fuel warning was not spurious but genuine."

Mr Rooney replied: "That's a possibility. I'll give you 75 per cent."

Mr Rooney also said that, on reading the Air Accident Investigation Bureau report following the accident, he believed that Mr Traill had successfully accomplished two autorotations of the aircraft - controlling it without power - in the seconds before the crash.

The counsel for the family of Gary Arthur asked Mr Rooney to describe Mr Traill, who he had known "very well".

Mr Rooney said his colleague had been "Relaxed, trustworthy and competent."

Mr McLeod said: "You would have observed him in flight? Seen what kind of pilot he was?"

Mr Rooney said: "He was very competent. He was certainly somebody who didn't break the rules for the sake of it.

"The nature of the flying sometimes required some element of risk to be taken.

"David was very competent and could assess what the risk was. Sometimes there is threat to life and the pilot has the decision to break rules if it was in the preservation of life."

Mr Rooney was then asked about the two police air observers.

He said: "Kirsty was a slightly quieter air observer but competent - she passed all her courses.

"Tony I regarded as one of the best, if not the best, air observer in the unit. He was very competent, very experienced."

Seven customers who were in the bar, Gary Arthur, 48; Joe Cusker, 59; Colin Gibson, 33; Robert Jenkins, 61; John McGarrigle, 58; Samuel McGhee, 56; and Mark O'Prey, 44, also died.

The inquiry continues on Monday.