A pilot has won an unfair dismissal case after complaining that damaging 'vibrations' from a helicopter caused him a degenerative back injury.
Mark Radcliffe - who founded the Princess Anne-backed charity Wings4Warriors - was accused of compromising CHC Scotia's safety standards after taking a video inside the helicopter to show the extent of the vibrations.
A tribunal case in Aberdeen, Scotland, heard that the commercial pilot began working for the company in December 2012 before becoming a Captain in 2019.
But in December 2022 he went on sick leave after experiencing debilitating lower back pain which he claimed was caused by the helicopter.
He returned in May 2023 but within days was 'struggling to walk' and later posted a video on Instagram of his co-pilot operating the helicopter.
Just five days later he was suspended with immediate effect and, then, demoted for using his phone 'in the safety critical stage of flying'. Eventually, in February 2025, he resigned over a breach of his contract.
Now the former North Sea pilot has won a whistleblower case against CHC over unfair dismissal after a tribunal deemed his demotion 'unjustified and unreasonable'.
Mr Radcliffe, whose charity trains wounded veterans as professional pilots, had been flying a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter when he began experiencing discomfort, the tribunal heard.
He discussed the injury with two doctors and had an MRI scan confirming that he had a degenerative disc disease.
His doctor asked CHC if they...
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