TWO Qantas pilots accused of recklessly endangering the lives of 70 passengers will not stand trial, partly because investigators were too slow off the mark, resulting in destruction of evidence.
Tasmania's Supreme Court today issued an open-ended stay on the proceedings against Victorian-based pilots Peter Maxwell Edwards and Stephen Sarunic.
They had pleaded not guilty to charges of reckless operation of an aircraft endangering life, by allegedly taking off from Launceston airport on October 23, 2001 without activating runway lights.
