just hadda post
i don't often post to the forum, having been away from aviation for nearly twenty years, but i was touched by the tribute to jeremy clark, and felt i had to add my two cents. i'm the guy who wrote the operational guidelines for the east river exclusion back in the early '80's (yeah, i know, you'll never find it attributed to me but i did it, and later on it was adopted by the helicopter pilots association and forced on the faa ((faa were a bunch of losers, and unconcerned, i can attest to that)) ). we ran one of the busiest heliports in the usa, or the world, for a decade by the seat of our pants (my chair was a 55 gallon drum with a pillow), and once our "rules" were in place, we never had an incident that involved a major conflict with airlcraft in the corridor, despite incursions from private aircraft, float planes, and others (nypd, military, etc.) who would avoid talking on the frequency.
know what?...**** happens (i was there when the nypd copter collided with a float plane over lower manhattan, and that's part of the reason i drew up some "rules", and if ya don't wanna fly by any "rules", ya probably shouldn't be in the air. i worked with some of the best, including a tuskegee veteran, and i learned what it takes to survive. in the best of circumstances, bad things will still happen, but your safety and life depend on going "by the book"; unfortunately, if there is no book, y'er on your own. the faa is a waste, as far as i'm concerned, a sad joke that the general public believes is looking out for their safety, and until some simple commonsense rules are posted, or mandated, or whatever, for this area, **** will happen again.
again, i post this, having been touched by the tribute to jeremy, so much like the captains i knew and worked with and loved.