I really don’t get what all the reference to deep dark IMC and moonless nights has to do with anything during this particular takeoff. It’s not like you are staring outside looking for visual references as you fly out over the water??? This was a flight where you would be on the instruments 100% of the time as soon as you rotated. You would only need to keep the helipad visual as you either backed up or climbed vertically, depending on the profile, which a moonless night and “deep dark IMC” have no bearing on.
A normal night helipad departure should have looked
like this in their AW139.........
- Pick your CAT A profile
- Do your hover checks and figure out your target PI
- Apply your calculated takeoff power
- Climb to your TDP visually
- Wait for the non flying pilot to call TDP
THEN EYES GO TO AND STAY ON THE DIALS!!!!
- Call rotating and rotate to 10 degrees nose down and count to one one thousand ON INSTRUMENTS!! (Same for all AW139 helipad profiles)
- Level the wings with the horizon ON INSTRUMENTS!! and wait for the VTOSS call at 40 KIAS by the non flying pilot (Same call for all AW139 helipad profiles)
-Adjust the pitch up to 5 degrees nose up ON INSTRUMENTS!! and continue pulling your calculated takeoff PI
- Wait for the VY call from the non flying pilot at 80 knots and then reduce the takeoff power to climb power ON INSTRUMENTS!!
- Call for the after takeoff Checks when the non flying pilot calls 500 Radalt
- Select Flight Director Modes if wanted.
This is just a standard run of the mill night departure that any offshore guy has done hundreds of times in their career and during simulator training. Deep, dark and moonless have nothing to do with the procedure. From the second you begin to rotate both sets of eyes are inside on the instruments.
However, I completely agree that these skills are perishable and if you are used to bombing around single pilot day VFR and have 10,000 hours of Robinson time, as one poster said, you probably are just checking the boxes rather than being proficient.
I would have been sweating bullets if asked to perform that type of takeoff without feeling proficient. The black hole spatial illusions are no joke if you aren’t glued to those instruments.
Currency and proficiency unfortunately are not up to the pilots but the companies or individuals that employ us. I would love to do 10 night landings per month offshore but unfortunately the oil companies and my company stick to the 3 takeoffs and landings in 90 days instead.
Looks like a classic CFIT case to me so far.........