Great video Sandblaster
Back to Kobe Bryant's crash and ISTR the only reason the aircraft went North and was offered SVFR was because of the volume of traffic departing South from the airport - this seems to have been the controller trying to be helpful because the alternative was a long hold before crossing South under the departure lane.
Faced with a ,long hold and the inevitable desire to get his pax to their destination on time, I'm sure most pilots would have taken this option.
Trouble is, once clear of the controlled airspace, he can't be SVFR and must declare he is in VFR weather limits to legally continue flight. This seems to have coincided with the weather actually being worse - and now he has painted himself into a bit of a corner and convinces himself the best option is to carry on since the weather MUST get better as he gets down towards the highway.
So when it doesn't, he is royally screwed - then leaves one of his options too late (turn round or climb) and then as he hits the marine layer, tries to do both at once - the rest is sadly history.
If you go back to an earlier time in the flight, there were plenty of opportunities to take a safer (if more time consuming) option (hold, land, return to base etc) but once committed to the North routing, SVFR into VFR, worsening weather and tricky terrain, the holes in the swiss cheese really started to line up.
Until he entered cloud, he always had the option of slowdown, go down turn round or land and this is the message that still fails to be understood by pilots.
I am sure Crab didn't mean it, but I am afraid that some will misunderstand his post of saying that the actual conditions when given a Special VFR clearance are neccessarily worse than the VFR limits for helicopters operating outside of a control zone (CTR). Or to rephrase, that once exited the control zone in which you were operating under SVFR, in order to continue under VFR the visibility needs to have improved, else you can't proceed.
I believe that wouldn't be true. At least not universally.
In South Africa for example
- In a control zone (CTR) a helicopter cannot operate under VFR if the viz is < 2,500m or the ceiling is < 600ft.
- If granted SVFR clearance, a helicopter can continue to operate down to a viz > 800m (and no ceiling requirements, just clear of clouds and ground in sight).
Once "CTR out" the min viz requirements for helicopters is 1,500m, and no restriction on ceiling.
If we now look at a scenario [viz=2,000m;ceiling=500ft], while in a CTR you'd need SVFR clearance. Come "CTR out", the same conditions put you well above VFR minima applicable outside controlled airspace. Actually, you are good down to viz 1,500m, with reduced ceiling as long as clear of clouds and ground in sight.
The layman (read "press") might think that SVFR allows you to fly in the worst possible conditions, as ATC 'is vectoring you through". And once outside CTR, that is once you are on your own, you'd need better visibility to fly
.
The opposite is true: Because of the presence of IFR flights within a control zone, and the priority that is given to those IFR flights, ATC keeps an eye on you the moment the ceiling drops below 600 ft. Once outside the CTR, with no potential conflict with IFR flights, the helicopter pilot can subject him or herself to much lower minima.