As I said HB - I have no objection to anyone wanting to wear a helmet if you think that it will make your North Sea flying any safer. I just think that it is OTT.Of the recent NS accidents that I know of a helmet would have made little difference to the crews concerned.
I expect to be firefighting again later this year and will be wearing my Alpha as will be spending most of the time below 200' dodging, trees, hills, birds, other aircraft and sitting in a 50' hover at 90% TQ. When I get back offshore it will go back in the attic. My choice.
Fair enough, and I don't totally disagree on the overall safety argument. However I wonder what is going to happen in the future if we see an increase of pilots losing their licenses due to hearing loss/tinnitus. There has been a lot of research done recently as to safe noise and vibration levels in the cockpit and the effect on hearing. The conclusions are fairly conclusive and the most recent study in Norway effectively stated that the chances of hearing loss were extremely high in types such as the S92.
I do speculate as to how we will stand with regards to loss of license insurance if we lose it due to hearing loss, in an environment where it was a known probability and proper and adequate precautions to prevent this were not taken. The scenario could feasibly play out whereby the insurance company refuses to pay on the basis that due caution was not exercised. This puts both the individual pilot and the company he works for in a difficult position. The pilot is now forced to sue the company for a very considerable sum in order to cover his loss of earnings. In this day and age of litigation and blame, the insurance companies invest heavily in only paying out when they really have to, so I am sure they will investigate this, and with the evidence all readily available to prove their point, it is hard to argue against it, when it may very well be a preventable occurrence.