Re: Three Dead....Another Night Bad Weather Flight Over Dark Terrain
Rotorspeed,
Why is my "generalized" comment "they encountered a situation they could not handle" off base?
They encountered weather bad enough for them to cancel the mission "after" takeoff and enroute to the destination. They did not succeed in getting back to the takeoff pad.
The physical examination of the aircraft determined no mechanical cause for the crash. That does not rule out a mechanical malfunction but commonsense would suggest some other cause is the most likely reason for the crash.
What might that be?
BigMike,
Sad news about the Slovakian crew. Your responses go straight to the heart of the NVG issue. I agree the latest versions are absolutely magic....and failures are rare but they do happen. Usually it is something simple like a faulty wire from the battery pack or a bad connection on the helmet mount but these things do occur.
My point there is....should that happen....and you are flying in a region where there is no surface reference visible to the un-aided eye....then you have a very quick onset of having to fly on instruments alone. Combine that with being in a mountain valley or in an area surrounded by hills that are obscured by cloud and you have a most interesting dilemna. That is where CRM techniques and crew coordination become paramount. Lets throw in another thought...it is the flight sector with the patient aboard....and both the crew are needed to care for the patient....think of the decision making that has to take place in a hurry. Does one of the med crew ignore the patient and start looking out front and steering the pilot visually?