Originally Posted by
SASless
Over water IMC descent to find VMC conditions.....now who flying offshore has never done that?
Ummm...me? Never. Not once did I do that. Admittedly, I only flew in the GOM for fifteen years. Maybe if I'd stuck around for another year I would've "had' to do it? Who knows. People often castigate and insult me because I don't have an Instrument Rating. But over my whole career, I've either stayed low or turned around or...gee, imagine this...LANDED. You know why I never "went IMC?" Because I never pretended that I could fly on instruments. Like Ara. And like so many other superior, Instrument-rated and supposedly competent pilots (perhaps like yourself)... but who've met their demise due to overconfidence in their abilities. (Plus, I've never flown any helicopter that was IFR-capable...or certified...or was able to carry enough fuel for an IFR flight after loading up all the crap.)
Originally Posted by
SASless
Granted it is safer with Radar installed and working....perhaps even having an installed and functioning Auto Pilot.
Doing a descent hoping to find VMC over uneven terrain...no thanks.
We will. not know if that descent was by intent or was the result of a loss of control by the pilot.
As he called SCT to report climbing.....and the very short time between that transmission and loss of Radar Contact would suggest a rather abrupt change in plans if it was intentional.
No, SAS. It was unintentional. I believe that Ara really thought he was still climbing straight ahead when "something" distracted him and he diverted his attention from the instruments in front of him to the left...to the center console, maybe. Then, unconsciously, his hand put some left pressure on the stick which caused the left bank which, left unattended and uncorrected, progressed into a steep, unrecoverable descending left turn.
It's funny... People act as though Ara was some incompetent, unqualified boob. They act like he was some newbie 206 charter pilot who just graduated from R-44's with a fresh Instrument ticket and no practical experience. We should remember that he was the CHIEF PILOT of that chicken outfit. To be a Chief Pilot you need at least three years of Part-135 experience. Typically, you don't get to be CP because the Director of Ops walks in one morning and says, "Oh damn, I forgot, we need a new Chief Pilot. Hey Ara, you doing anything right now? You wanna be Chief Pilot? I mean, it's either you or the other R-44 guy we just hired."