When I think about being tethered to an aircraft with a harness that is secured BEHIND me with a screw-type carabiner...I mean, it just gives me the willies. Or heebie-jeebies, one or the other. Because off the top of my balding head I can come up with a couple of very valid reasons that I might want to un-ass an aircraft tout de suite! And then I think about trying to reach *BEHIND* me to unscrew the carabiner. If such a scenario doesn't make your skin crawl, then buddy, you have less fear than I do.
And that poor pilot; sheesh, he must have known that those harnesses were a literal death sentence for his pax. I mean, just suppose he couldn't have made the river? Suppose he ended up landing in Manhattan somewhere and...let's be honest for a moment - botched the auto and it rolled onto its side and burned. Astars have been known to do that. Those pax would still be dead. I mean, come on. To all you real pilots out there I ask: Would YOU take off in a helicopter in which the pax could not quickly and easily release their own restraints and get the heck out if it were on fire...or under water? HECK NO, you wouldn't! Part of every pre-takeoff safety briefing I've ever given includes instruction about releasing the seatbelts, which have a different release motion than the cars with which we're all familiar. How did that pilot handle that bit?
I'm wondering...I mean, I'm really at a loss for words as to why NOBODY in either company (FlyNYON or Liberty) took a look at those harnesses and said, "Uhhhhhh...hold on. This ain't great." When the lawsuits come - and you know they will - there's going to be a *BUNCH* of people on the hot-seat, including, unfortunately, that PIC.