Originally Posted by
Sir HC
Fantastic job airplanecrazy. The last two transmissions from 2EX I hadn't heard before, quite chilling.
I wonder if he had issues engaging the autopilot, any S-76 guys care to comment on how easy it is to engage PIT/ROL mode on the fly? It's almost as though he engaged the AP (or at least thought he did) and then got distracted in the cockpit by a dropped iPad, passenger interruption etc. I just can't fathom that an ATPL certificated pilot, albeit not current, sitting in an IFR certified helicopter, could not conduct a simple climb on instruments, in my opinion there had to be an external influence.
Thanks for the kind words. For anyone answering Sir HC's first question, I believe that the helicopter had an SPZ-7000 Flight Control System installed (at least it did when sold by the State of Illinois, and I find no record of it being removed in the Airworthiness documentation.).