There is a philosophical point worth making about the use of regulatory standards as the basis for your day-to-day flight ops. The average human performance will inevitably fluctuate on an hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis. We are rarely consistent in anything we do. The problem with this is that if you fluctuate below the standard set by the regs the you are in the 'unacceptable zone'.
If you choose a higher standard as your reference then you will help to ensure that fluctuations in performance do not fall below the minimum (regulatory standard). Just so happens that JARs are a pre-existing and convenient set of standards for anyone disillusioned with FARs to use as a reference.
I honestly cannot believe that there are pilots out there who think that the GOM is a 'beacon of excellence'. You must be joking!!
In trying to find ways of reducing the accident rates we need a comprehensive armoury of tools. Regs are just one part but as Nick has highlighted, new equipment will help an lot.
In my recipe book for a better working environment for all helo ops I include:
1. Better Equipment
2. Higher reference standards
3. High quality sim training with LOFT (remember it's the people in the box, not the quality of the box that counts so when you go for a 'dry lease' of the sim be sure you are not just perpetuating the shortcomings you have already).
4. High standards of maintenance
5. CRM - and I don't just mean a troll through a library of old accidents but a real attempt to help us identify within ourselves those negative facets that reduce crew effectiveness. Same deal for maintainers.
6 Tie the whole thing together with a good Safety Management Systems. I know from practical experience that you cannot get an SMS past first base without having to get the senior (accountable) management to sign up to it. Not just lip service but really sign up to it. Get it past first base and the whole thing becomes a thing of beauty. Five years later you would not believe you were once back there, where you started - "were we really that bad? dumb? unsafe"? Try it - it works.
7. Get the infrastructure right. Whether it's radar, ADS-B or WAM - we need it. Whats good for the airlines is good for us - keep saying it.
8. With the industry demography pointing to a crisis in the years ahead we must see the younger generations receiving greater depth of training. Enough of this "10 hours IF will do" routine. If the guys don't have the experience then they must surely have a better foundation. Look at the military - they have young guys doing serious stuff with v. expensive equipment - the difference is they were not expected to do the job on the back of 150 hours gathered hither and thither doing VFR navexes.
Enough already
G
