US in request to extradite ex-Tassie adventure pilot

Ex-US Marines pilot and founder of Top Gun Australia will learn his fate by Christmas following an extradition request lodged by the United States.

Pictured is Daniel Duggan, his former business was Top Gun Tasmania (Australia).

The United States of America has lodged an extradition request with Australia over ex-US Marines pilot Daniel Duggan, who formerly operated a popular adventure flight company in Tasmania.

Mr Duggan, who founded Top Gun Australia Pty Ltd in 2009, flying from Hobart International Airport with occasional forays from Launceston, Devonport and Wynyard, was arrested by Federal Police at the Orange, NSW farm he shares with wife Saffrine and six children in October.

The Reuters newswire service reports that US authorities allege Mr Duggan “provided military training to PRC [People’s Republic of China] pilots” in South Africa on three occasions, in 2010 and 2012.

Pictured is Daniel Duggan, his former business was Top Gun Tasmania (Australia).

Mr Duggan became an Australian citizen in 2012 after renouncing his US citizenship.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has until Christmas Day to consider the US request.

Tasmanian pilot Jethro Nelson, who rose to the rank of Flight Lieutenant in the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force, flew under Mr Duggan in the early 2010s for Top Gun.

He told the Mercury he recalled Mr Duggan travelling to South Africa for “reasonable lengths of time” during the relevant period.

“I had no idea what he was doing,” Mr Nelson, who lost contact with Mr Duggan in the mid-2010s, said.

“I’m keeping an open mind (to the charges), what he is going through... does sound like judicial overreach,” Mr Nelson said.

He thought it possible the Americans were trying to ”scapegoat and make an example of” Mr Duggan.

It’s understood Top Gun, which flew a Jet Provost Mk 5 and a Nanchang CJ-6, ceased trading in the mid-2010s. Reuters reported Mr Duggan had been working in China since 2014.

Mr Nelson recalled Mr Duggan did initially attempt to run Top Gun from China but subsequently sold the business.

It is not known how long the Duggans lived in the Greater Hobart region for, nor when they relocated to NSW. Ms Duggan told the Australian newspaper that her husband was due to start a new job for a government military contractor, which provides specialised air training support services to Defence, the week of his arrest.

She said he had passed the strict government background security checks required for the role.