Originally Posted by
FH1100 Pilot
Wait...what? The t/r gearbox separated from the fin? And one of the four t/r blades has not been found? Hmm. I know that a lot of you had leapt to the conclusion that two inept pilots screwed up. And I know it's tempting to use our vast knowledge of helicopters to pontificate on meaningless internet forums so we can prove to others how smart we are... But maybe we shouldn't be so quick to judge? My personal jury is still out on this one.
Well said FH. It is a trap we can all fall into, and at times its hard not to offer some thoughts, but we really ought to be careful of our phraseology all the time.
Not that it would have made any difference on this occasion, however, I am surprised to see the length of time between the accident and the overdue alert notice. We have basic technology nowadays that could cut that down to a few minutes. I can't remember my FAA flight plan data/process, but if their flight plan wasn't closed within say, an hour of the scheduled landing time, wouldn't that have been sufficient to raise an alert?