DB
CRAB, please explain why, after this accident, the CAA launched an investigation into HOFO procedures AND substantial changes were made to all Operator's SOPs.
I would think that it was because they were horrified that a licensed, professional crew could make such fundamental errors and needed to find out why this crew did things so badly compared to others. I'm sure the CAA inspector's first thought on this was 'How the f*** did they manage that?'
HC
So let’s re-run the approach with the same crew, same weather, same monitoring of IAS but with one difference - SOP mandated, and company culture supported, the use of IAS mode during such approaches. The accident would not have happened. I’m not sure how much clearer it could be!
If your pilots aren't going to follow SOPs anyway, what difference would it make? It was so much more than just the use of VS mode, it was, as rotorspeed highlights, their whole attitude to the approach that was wrong.
You can't absolve them of their responsibility to fly the F'ing aircraft - that doesn't need to be in SOPs, that is a BASIC tenet of airmanship.
Rotorspeed - great post last but one, very reasoned
