To all parties concerned,
Recent night accidents in Australia and abroad can only be contributed to helicopters not fully equipped to do the job at hand safely. So many times I/we read of accident reports where pilots attempt to be a hero at night with a single-turbine/single pilot operation - only certified for day VFR Ops.
Regardless of the experience levels of aircrew, no single-pilot can operate a helicopter safely at night (especially over water) without the necessary stabilization/auto-pilot functions.
The EMS Industry, being mostly driven by charity organisations, is a classical example how these organisations are placing huge amount of external pressures on pilots/aircrew to perform the jobs (day, night, IFR, etc.), without providing aircrew with available and suitable resources.
This is something the marine pilot transfer industry should also consider. At the end of the day, if organisations don't invest in suitable equipment, aircrew (especially pilots) is not always going the last line of defence pulling the helicopter out the dive and saving the day.
There is no simple or single solution. If organisations want to do these kind of jobs, regardless of day, night, etc., they have to be prepared to invest in new and suitable equipment to operate safely and even more importantly, providing the community with a safe and efficient 24hr, 7 day-a week, 365-day operation!!
Rest my case!!
CJ