This kind of tragic report can be found in the UK AAIB records over and over again. It reflects, no doubt in my mind, the extent to which humans will take risk and be careless in doing so. The pilot's car door was left open: the keys left in the ignition and likely still switched to on, the very short number of minutes after parking before the helicopter was started, the engine could not have been warmed after start in the very few following minutes before the take off into atrocious weather. The pilot was very experienced, he had being flying various helicopters over 28 years but there is no evidence of formal training at night or in IMC. No mechanical failure was found. The report makes the point that the journey home in his car was only 30 minutes.
The above has NOTHING to do with the country of registration but rather the personality of the individual. Sadly the same disdain for the rules and safety is replicated throughout the UK by UK licenced pilots flying UK registered aeroplanes within UK airspace. This is an issue that HF education and TEM training is attempting to tackle but, in GA at least, it is an uphill battle within the current aviation establishment. They just don't get it.
Last edited by Fl1ingfrog; 27th Oct 2021 at 10:46.