The "ball"
We have had a full account of incident published to us. As it is in thepublic domain I do not want to "splurge" it acroiss this page, suffice to say the aircraft was intact when it hit the sea whilst the crew were manouvring visually for the approach to ETAP. The first the crew were aware they had an incident was when they hit the sea.
CFIT(W) for the TLA freaks.
The time must surely have come to put an end to "visual" manouvring over the sea.
In my view ALL night approaches should be conducted as full ARAs using the stabilised approach technique until the required visual references are identified by both pilots. If this takes more time so be it. Rather a bigger flying bill for the Oil Operator than more events like this one.
To my knowledge there ahve been 7 CFIT(W) in the offshore environment. Some people have actually flown into the sea, and simply taken back off again, and got away with it.
Not one of this incidents occurred during an ARA. All of them occurred whilst visual manouvring.
The required visual references in this context being the fully developed "Rugby Ball" afforded by the helideck lights, a point from beyond which, inadvertant descent, below helideck height, is almost impossible.
Hence the phrase "Calling the Ball".
In addition the use of automatics, when available, should be mandatory and procedures developed to facilitate this.
I fully expect this forum to be "swamped" with cynics and die hards who will want to continue flying manually, visually and with complete freedom to do what they like and resist at any cost (including more incidents like this one) the winds of change that must be surely about to blow.
The crew that night, (and I hope they are reading this) are in my view gulity of nothing other than being sucked into the current culture where sensible a safe procedures are almost non existant.
The only people who really understand the Night Offshore environment is the crews who fly in it. It therefore follows that we, the crews, are the only people who can drive and effect change for the better.
For those of you, whoose only reaction to this, is to reach for your keyboard and howl in anguish at the mere suggestion that more tighter procedures and lmitations for Night VMC are required, you are part of the problem.