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."
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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.
Would be interesting to hear knowledgeable opinions on whether lack of "maintenance required for IFR flight" is a possible factor or is it that more of a paperwork exercise unlikely to find anything?
A misleading indicator at the wrong time 'could' partly explain the final seconds of the flight. I suspect the answer is no but I have no knowledge of this so thought I would ask.
Another thought was triggered by Gums comment about passengers needing a bucket after the circling hold, is it possible that a passenger did something very distracting all over the pilot or instruments at just the wrong time. (Trying to avoid graphic image here but not possible I guess.)