Monday was supposed to be the start of a five-day trial for Rhys Henry Thomas, 59, but he decided to plead guilty instead.

Thomas, a partner of a seaplane firm in Australia which offers sightseeing flights, will be sentenced on Tuesday.

For flying without a Certificate of Airworthiness, he could be fined up to $5,000 and jailed for up to a year.

Thomas flew into Singapore with aircraft technician Darren Michael Johnson on Jan 22.

During the flight, he informed the Singapore Air Traffic Control Centre (SATCC) over the radio that he was heading to Seletar Airport for maintenance at Australian-licensed Jet Aviation.

SATCC checked and found out that the company was not expecting the Cessna.

Thomas' lawyer Salem Ibrahim said this was because his client had no way to contact them on his plane's radio.

Johnson, who was in court on Monday, was not charged.

Mr Ibrahim, who is himself a certified pilot, asked District Judge Danielle Yeow to impose a light fine as his client had not deliberately committed the offence.

Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.