Originally Posted by
helonorth
Have you ever taken a flight that you wish you hadn't? Ever made a dumb mistake that could have gotten yourself killed but got lucky? That's how. Helicopter flying is inherently dangerous.
Divert. Abort and go home. Land. Fly to survive, survive to fly. I can get another job, it's harder to get another ticket, and impossible if you're dead- and careless, lazy aviation will
kill you.
There are several reasons US HEMS has 'so many accidents.' There is more of it, covering more area with minimal support and regulation built around operator's interest.
Beyond being told landing was 'an acceptable option' if I could not proceed safely, nothing in the company culture or structure encouraged that decision easy. It was
never trained in initial or recurrent, and seldom even mentioned in discussion. Weather minimums are secondary to decision making, forecasts are guesses, observations are history, the weather is what you see from the cockpit, you have to deal with what exists. The vis, ceilings may be officially acceptable but if you're working hard to just control and fly the aircraft safely, you are behind the aircraft and it is flying you. A competent PIC's job is to evaluate and plan to complete the leg if possible, but definitely maximize survival and perhaps,
just perhaps not break the aircraft. Approaching each flight prepared to abort, divert, land somewhere uncomfortable to survive or minimize the chance that you sacrifice an aircraft to merely survive would, I think, go a long way to reducing all accidents.
When I flew Gulf of Mexico, our training emphasized the fact that a power on ditching was much, much safer than an autorotative ditching. How many pilots would put a running helicopter on the water, or in the trees, merely because he wasn't
certain he could extend the fuel to a safe, undamaged landing? Extending the glide kills crews regularly, avoiding the decision that you have to land now does too. I found it much more comfortable and easy to avoid the possibility at every opportunity, because I knew with certainty that better pilots than I had died pushing it. Been to a lot of funerals over the years.