Originally Posted by
John R81
The helicopter was at 800ft, and it looks like the aeroplane descended into the helicopter from behind; clear visibility and well clear of cloud (NOTE: that may or not be the case once the accident investigation reports).
Regardless, my question (not being a fixed wing pilot) is this: Do fixed wing pilots routinely descend into airspace they cannot see & have not cleared (the descent ahead is hidden by the nose / engine cowl), or are they taught to make clearing turns throughout the descent to avoid running into someone else? If not, why not?
Looking at the location, both aircraft were in the circuit. Both were talking to the Flugleiter. Both aircraft were aware of each other, had been warned of each other. The last communication from the fixed wing aircraft was 'do not have the helicopter in sight'.
You can say what you want but if the helicopter was lower in the circuit and the Piper was descending to circuit altitude, then spotting it against a background of ground clutter is a nearly impossible job, especially with the engine and wings blocking views forward and down. In my eyes, this is another situation which proves that 'see and avoid' needs to be replaced with electronic conspicuity - after all, 4 pairs of eyeballs Mk I were looking but none spotted the aircraft.....