Originally Posted by
gipsymagpie
In UK and northern Europe another couple of factors are the icing level being too low to allow IMC for half the year for most -27 certified helis and the extreme cost of getting the IR. However almost all of our offshore operations are IFR (helis with icing clearance)
There are a number of U.K. helicopter pilots who do hold IRs and regularly use them during onshore ops. It’s quite legal to fly VFR - IFR - VFR (or continue to an airfield under IFR) in U.K. without having to file a written flight plan. Some operators now even have approved “point in space” letdowns of their own.
But obviously, you need to plan for the worst case weather scenario because that’s the nature of the U.K. weather. The Bryant accident would never have happened if this had been done.