342 driver "when lives are at stake, it should be at the pilot's discretion and outlined in the TEM. And in the medevac and HEMS world, it's reasonably if the risk benefit is not too high its part of the job..."
Not in EASA Land! The HEMS operation takes benefit from reduced minima if a second trained crewmember is on board (Pilot or HEMS Technical Crew).
Toys, in any shape or form, do not allow flight in reduced minima in a helicopter. They just increase awareness and hopefully safety.
CRAB - "Not rocket science and no-one would have planned to end up in those conditions but sometimes it just happens and you have to deal with it - calmly, professionally and as safely as possible ie exactly what this crew did. Just because they ended up on someone's dashcam doesn't make them naughty, unsafe or unprofessional."
No! it means they made a mistake that ended up placing members of the public at risk. You believe they were so well trained and highly experienced that they themselves were not at risk. My experience of the same leads me to dispute this. Why Crab can you see this for what it was.
"But if you're experienced enough to follow a stone wall along a road, then you're experienced enough to know the weather patterns for that area"
Oh Dear Crab!
ROUND 6