Helicopter crash off the coast of Newfoundland - 18 aboard, March 2009

[Mel Effluent]

I have dug out the relevant passage from an ancient set of Flight Reference Cards for a UK military helicopter, which reads as follows:

The Urgency of the Need to Land

Following a system failure, it may be necessary to land the aircraft for safety considerations. The degree of urgency to land the aircraft depends on the nature of the failure and the prevailing conditions. The following terms are used to give guidance on the degree of urgency required but are not intended to be precise definitions:

Land Immediately

Land at once even if, for example, the outcome is ditching or landing in trees. The consequences of continued flight are likely to be more hazardous than those of landing at a site normally considered to be unsuitable.

Land As Soon As Possible

Do not continue flight for longer than is necessary to accomplish a safe but unhurried landing at the nearest site.

Land As Soon As Practicable

Land at the nearest aviation location or, if one is not reasonably close, at a safe landing site selected for subsequent convenience.

Overall, I think that this is a sensible approach as it does not mandate the crew's actions in advance. Whoever drafts and approves the emergency checklist cannot possibly foresee all the potential situations and ultimately, it should be the captain's decision what to do.

Tragically, in this case, the decision to continue flying was flawed, but we will never accurately know what the crew's assessement of their situation was, though I suspect that the pilots' mental models were significantly different. Personally, I am profoundly grateful that I have never been put in a similar position, even though I have speculated on what I would do if presented with a 'Land Immediately' situation do many times. Risk management in aviation is not a simple linear process and how many of us can claim that we make perfect decisions every time?

RIP