Gentlemen; we are digressing somewhat here and I must say that I echo the sentiments of “Sir Cumference” & “canthover”. Let’s cut the bull…t here. CAA; in true style; yet again, have elected to tackle this issue in the most unconventional means – from what I can see transpiring, a little diplomacy and team effort of all the role players would have been a far more beneficial and proactive route to follow and now look at the antagonism that has been created over this issue – I bet the 3 instructors from Durban are mighty angry; would’nt we all be.
Let’s not forget though that Eurocopter are partly and more so largely to blame here as well. Has anyone heard anything form the ‘big white empire’ up in Jhb yet – I guess not. Back to the point; the crux of the matter here is that the two pilots in question did not intentionally take the aircraft and fly it into the ground; hey pilots, this was an accident and we should all learn from this experience; CAA and Eurocopter are making this extremely difficult. It is blatantly clear that they did not have all the information, but take note that there is still no clarification of any kind in this regard which is strange to say the least. We need to find out why and what the correct information is; this is the million $ question I guess.
I think its high time we got the ‘big guns’ in for a more professional outlook and balanced opinion on things – Eurocopter France should be able to shed some light on this discussion. Maybe they will be interested to know that the operators and pilots alike, still do not have any clarification whatsoever from the local Eurocopter marketing department : ouch yet again, this will have some serious ramifications in the future and may cost them dearly in the long run as we consider the coverage that this incident is now gathering!
Nice to see that Tony was in fact “factory trained;” the next important question is to find out if the ‘factory course’ he completed did cover the issues surrounding exercises with regard to tail control failures; if not, ouch again as they may have held back slightly on the severity and depth of the matter and by not forwarding the correct info; as they may have been afraid of the impact it may have on worldwide EC 120 sales, hence the HEMS operator of the Durban aircraft should look at getting Eurocopter to foot part of the bill/blame here! We should all be very interested to find the facts surrounding this one, however I have my doubts just looking at the recent events and non-communication from Eurocopter SA with regard to the recent rollover – I smell a stinky one here!
CAA, shame on you; what about the rest of us instructors nationwide? Why just the 3 in Durban and not the rest! Double standards I say! United we stand, divided we all fall! Hey guess what, I am still in the dark as to the ‘veil of secrecy’ surrounding this exercise – best I leave EC 120’s alone for the near future!