TC
Gordy - you surprise me.
Why? I was actually agreeing with this:
Nothing wrong with landing on roads for various reasons in no particular order...
A: Who cares about blocking traffic, you're there to save someone's life
B: Blowing debris can and will be found anywhere. Roads and fields, front yards and back yards and runways. (Blowing away evidence??? rofl)
C: Any ambulance or fire crew with half a brain won't come near a helicopter on the ground, whether it's blades are turning or not. The only ones who should approach are the medics with the patient.
I also agree with Flying Lawyer --- this does not show the pilot to be reckless, merely a judgement error. I do not fly EMS, and therefore cannot comment on the EMS ego light.
I was not there, so cannot comment on the reasons he chose to land where he did, but based upon what I can see in the video, I would not discount it, however it may not have been my first choice of landing site due to the wires. Wires need to be respected but not feared.
I fly low level most of the time, and land off airport more than on airport. I also am required to complete a day long course on "Wire and Obstruction Avoidance Training" on an annual basis. One of the things discussed in this training is short term memory. Basically your brain can remember about 4 or 5 key pieces of "key" information at any given time before it slips into "background" memory. (Forgive me, but I may not be using the correct terminology). There are numerous cases of aircraft landing in spots next to wires and then flying right into them on departure. The training I have received now requires me to think of the wire with every other thought...for example, on lift off, my thought process is:
Check torque
Where is the wire
Check N1
Where is the wire
Check TOT
Where is the wire
yada yada yada---you get the idea.
As for:
the pilot is a dork
Really???? Lets hope you never make a mistake.
Throw me right in the group of dorks then, because I land on many roads. And yes I do know I have trees all around me...
Then again, I do not need to worry about vehicles trying to get past me....
