Yep, pprune is a rough sandbox.
LA basin has had its share of dead rich guys riding helicopters. Like 212man points out, where's the operational risk assessment and control on these type of charters?
Did the PIC have single-pilot night IFR experience in an unstabilized helicopter? How often did he practise inadvertent IMC low-level: check heading, climb 500', 180 turn, wait 30 seconds, descend? Those of us with that kind of experience tell me "hell no". Give me a de-iced 139 and I'll think about it.
They took the long way 'round, maintaining VFR, 1000-1500' above terrain, so they were thinking about it...
The "safety pilot" thing isn't completely new. Didn't Australia fly EMS 139 with a "qualified crewman" without even a license in the left seat? Some rich guys with their own helicopter and a license wisely bring along someone that knows what they're doing, done that. Still trying to wrap my mind around this operation being normalized from a regulator/flight safety perspective.
Hit the ground 4 miles from the I-15 we think they were trying to follow, big oops.
