Its about time they (in Hong Kong) adopted Shell standards - liferafts, helmets etc.
PC1/2e is only one 7th of Shell´s master plan for helicopter safety, as adopted by the IHST. Only a fool would argue for just one safety improvement at the expense of all the others proven by Shell to be necessary.
Huh? Only a fool would make such a statement without knowing intimately the nature of the operation in Hong Kong/Macau, the normal weather patterns, sea temperatures, air temperatures, sea states, average currents, distances from land, local laws and requirements of the authorities, politics, SAR coverage in the area, ATC and radio coverage, SARSAT efficicency and capabilities, marine traffic density along the route, exposure related illnesses etc..etc..not to mention an understanding of the company and why this is even an issue now...
Really? I'm ashamed.
FH1100 Pilot This event bring some things into sharp focus. We make a Big Deal about Category A performance and how important we deem it to be. But in reality, there is still only one tail rotor and (in the case of Cougar in the North Atlantic) one main transmission. The failure of either one of those items (even though we assume the possibility to be extremely remote) can still put you in the water.
FH, that is true, but what do you propose to do. What's your point?
Shouldn't we take care to mitigate the risks we have control over as best we can, rather than worrying about things we can't control? I don't think we can create a profile which would allow safe 'tail-rotor gearboxless' flight in all phases and call it Category X! Unless you're suggesting two main rotors and a backup tailrotor, or parachutes for all on board....
Salvage? I presume they are using sonar. But seriously mud bottom with a lot of current and traffic, including trawling. Vis down to 3-5m. Magnetometer might help too therefore rather than a sonar (depending on the size and composition of the target). Interested to know which salvage company they are using. A CCTV would really help to pinpoint the trajectory of the parts and at least point to the correct part of the haystack!