PNG experience and personal limits are in my view the #1 reason why aircraft crash in PNG. I'm a F/W PNG pilot who has been up there for a few years now, and I still scare myself sh*t-less some days when I screw up. If a PNG pilot has 9 lives I sure that I have used up at least 3 of them !
From experience I now tread a lot more carefully than I did when I first started flying up there. Management and clients don't make things easy, and having flown for a number of operators up there, I must say that I totally agree with the previous posts, the pressure that is put on pilots sometimes is totally unrealistic to say the least if not just bloody plain stupid ! That's coming from a fixed wingers point of view, but it's the same on the heli side as the company I fly for also operates helicopters and if anything its worse for the heli pilots, than it is for us fixed wingers with my employer. Some of the large companies that should know better (The ones who audit) are sometimes the worst pushers.
I have come to the conclusion recently, that I just tell my employer or the client (Who ever is calling the shots at the time) that this is the way I'm going to operate the machine and if they aren't happy they can pi$$ off and get another pilot to do their job in the unsafe manner that they require. Having lost a few mates over the years in PNG to CFIT I am not going to become another victim. Set your own limits and don't go outside of them,
Em Tasol !
There are a small number of pilots up there who like to show up the next pilot, but just remember they have more chance ending up in a wooden box than the pilots who elect to play it safe.
Keep it safe ! If in doubt "GET OUT" !
