To victor-papa, and all who castigate SAC for a seeming "design failure" of the S-92 transmission:
From SAC's point of view, a civilian aircraft losing *all* of its transmission oil is an extremely remote possibility. I mean, nobody is shooting at the thing, right? SAC will probably trot out a hoard of "expert witnesses" who'll testify to that issue. I can imagine if they got...well...me on the stand!
SIKORSKY DEFENSE ATTORNEY: So, Mr. FH1100 Pilot, how long have you been flying?
ME: Err, well sir I've been prostituting myself...that is, doing it for money for, oh, almost 28 years. But I've been flying airplanes since 1973 and began helicopter training in 1977. So...I dunno...32 years for helicopters?
SAC ATTY: And how many hours do you have now?
ME: Well, something more than 11,000. I don't really keep track anymore, except for the damn insurance companies and their...no offense...lawyers.
SAC ATTY: And in that time, how many complete losses of transmission oil quantity or losses of oil pressure have you had?
ME: Me? Well...umm...almost...ahh...one.
SAC ATTY: One??
ME: Almost! None, actually. Nearly one, but not quite.
SAC ATTY: So, Mr. FH1100 Pilot, would you therefore say that the likelihood of a complete loss of transmission lubrication would be extremely remote?
ME: That's a fair statement. May I go now? I have to pee.
SAC ATTY: NO FURTHER QUESTIONS! The Defense calls SASless to the stand!
Despite the fact that this was a tragic, deadly accident, I made the above a little humourous because this is exactly what WILL happen when it comes to trial. No matter what we assumed...no matter what the advertising brochures implied or hinted or even said outright...if those pilots had just landed...JUST PUT THE DAMN THING DOWN!...*all* of those people would not have died. It's sad, but true, no matter how much we don't like to admit it.
Sikorsky did what it did, and is now undoubtedly doing "something" (TBA) to control the damage to its reputation. But you can't say we haven't already learned some things from this accident... Something about operations over inhospitable terrain. Something about pilots faced with a lose/lose proposition. Something about our regulatory agencies. And something about Sikorsky.