Originally Posted by McGowan
Far as I'm conserned, the photo is a great one and looks safe enough to me. Even though it does look like he is saving the enviorment by not peeing on the ground.
The photo is indeed a "great one" but it certainly doesn't look safe. With all that flat ground, and even a "road" available to land on with no obstructions to be seen, why would anybody choose to make a "pinnacle" landing on top of a very small, unstable platform? In this particular instance, would it not have been safer to land on the ground and use a longer "pee pipe" from the tanker to the helicopter?
I too agree with SASless - Most pilots do carry out their own self assessment of risk prior to commiting to a flight, but there are many more out there who seem to have no concept of risk whatsoever.