Once again....we see a Report that read over Tea and Biscuits in the lounge with a soft fire behind the hearth makes one simply wonder how it could happen to such qualified, experienced, and decent people.
But, the other venue....in the hot seat on that miserable day with darkness approaching and a customer that of all appointments is running late.....that Tea is cold and bitter and the biscuits a bit stale.
Why is the hardest word in the Pilot's vocabulary to say....is the word "NO!",
The problem is when the weather is marginal but legal that we too often find ourselves wishing we had held onto discarded options. Most of us survive those less than stellar decisions but sadly too many of us do not survive.
When you see your options slithering away like folks owing you money that see you coming towards them with outstretched hand....perhaps it is time to opt for some fresh hot tea and biscuits and arrange ground transport for the Landed Gentry.
Mucking about in the dark and. murk over uneven terrain in what is arguably a very well kitted out aircraft with just about every kind of Gucci Kit you could reasonably ask for.....and then some....and not just filing IFR and going to the nearest Airfield with an approved IAP just has to make you wonder.
The very good news is no one got hurt, the aircraft was not damaged....some hat sizes got shrunk....and perhaps some real lessons learnt.
A for what it is worth.....an EMS Operator in my hometown lost a Bell 412 in Bluefield, West Virginia one afternoon....killed two pilots and the two Flight Nurses when they flew smack into a very hard mountain on the far side of the Airport while doing an Instrument Approach.
The Captain was the Base Manager, Training Captain, and Safety Officer all at one time. He was a good and decent Man, a well qualified pilot, married with children.
There is some wisdom in spreading the jobs around to different people so there is a widely exposure in the decision making. process....which done properly enhances safety.
We are all human with the vulnerabilities that entails.
Why oh why do we reject the automation and insist upon manipulating the flight controls ourselves when we could be seen as being rather dashing as we push buttons and twist plastic knobs.....and not get ourselves into the pickles we do that a properly managed Autopilot system would not.