When I started fly SAR, we were in mountainous regions, at night, over water (frequently all three conditions together) with only an attitude indicator and a radalt to help us hover. No height hold, the only flight control augmentation was a SAS, no doppler, no NVG.
flyer43, please tell me you don't think the above is a better way to fly than a modern machine with coupled hover, NVG, etc.
If there is a lacking skill set amongst the pilots flying modern machines, it is not the technology that is at fault. It is the training.
With proper training and clear ops manuals, the pilot should have no difficulty in determining when the technology provides an overall benefit.
Lets not turn a low probability series of failures combined with poor training into an excuse for making this industry less safe.
Matthew.