Originally Posted by
Mozella
From Forbes:
"The helicopter that crashed Sunday killing basketball star Kobe Bryant and eight others was owned by a charter company that only operated under visual flight rules, and its pilots were not permitted to fly solely based on their cockpit gauges if they encountered weather that limited visibility, a former pilot for the company told Forbes."
My experience is strictly limited to time as a Navy Fighter Pilot and later as a Commercial Airline Pilot but that was "back in the day". I know almost nothing about Part 135.
If the article in Forbes is true, it might explain why the pilot tried so hard to complete his mission using VFR/SVRF in such poor weather. Can someone with experience in Part 135 VFR-only operations comment on what would be the legal and professional ramifications if in this case Bryant's pilot had given up his "scud running', entered IMC, and presented himself as a pop-up IFR aircraft? I imagine plenty of people would be tight-jawed about doing this starting immediately with the controlling agency and no doubt it would not end there.
I don't know if the pilot was current for IFR or not and I suspect that although the helicopter may have been suitably equipped, I'm guessing that the maintenance required for IFR flight was not up to date. So it's certain that more than one person would have to do an unpleasant rug-dance and somebody would be paying fines and/or be forced to deal with licensing problems some place down the line. But almost anything is better than slamming into a hillside.
Comments from those closer to the action than I?
The Forbes article you mention is
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremyb...y-instruments/
I thought it made some interesting points, but I couldn't comment on them.
The NTSB has announced that they have the maintenance records, so I expect the state of the flight instruments is going to be documented in their preliminary report. The information I have seen has the pilot holding a current IFR rating, but all of that will also be in the report.