Megan,
Don't tell me you're just another lemming in that whatever the NTSB or our AAIB says - goes. They, too are human (remember that argument about human error - well it exists inside even the most illustrious departments).
I would be only too happy to tell the NTSB that this conclusion is suspect, in the least and for the following reason:
Markings are 'guidelines'. They are not compulsory or legal.
Here's the interesting bit: Assuming the NTSB advice is compelling - how does a visiting aircraft, unfamiliar with the venue, fit into this organisational problem?
Does the visiting pilot assume that if he/she bumps into anything of their own volition - it's partly the organisation that is to blame? Of course not. YOU as a pilot are expected to navigate around obstructions and land on a spot that is free from harm. The markings on the helipad are very nice and no doubt very clear, but if a visiting pilot assesses there is something not quite right with the spacing and his/her SPATIAL AWARENESS, then FFS......they make adjustments. IF that adjustment (trying to avoid bumping into other objects) is defective and they do hit something, does one genuinely believe they are only partly to blame because surrounding arrangements were not what they should have been?
If I clip another car in the shopping mall car park because it wasn't perfectly inside its parking slot - can I genuinely accept only 90% of the blame?
This accident couldn't have been more black and white. Pilot brings cab number 2 home. Parks cab 2 on top of cab 1 because they didn't adjust accordingly.
Please let's not make more of this than what it is. A simple mistake by a simple pilot.
