I saw this press release in a trade paper....
PRESS RELEASE
Date 08 October 2002
NTSB urges FAA to require helicopter Instrument Rating in snowy climes
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) today urged the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to require “all helicopter pilots who conduct commercial, passenger-carrying flights in areas where flat light or whiteout conditions routinely occur to possess a helicopter-specific instrument rating and to demonstrate their instrument competency during initial and recurrent . . . check flights.” NTSB Recommendation A-02-33. In addition, NTSB wants FAA to require operators in these areas “to include safe practices for operating in flat light or whiteout conditions in their approved training programs,” and mandate “installation of radar altimeters in all helicopters conducting commercial, passenger-carrying operations in areas where flat light or whiteout conditions routinely occur.” NTSB Recommendations A-02-34 and A-02-35. The full text of these NTSB recommendations is available via Internet at
http://www.ntsb.gov/recs/letters/2002/A02_33_35.pdf.
How many commerical operators will actively support these reccomendations and promptly equip the aircraft with the instruments and train and test their pilots to this standard? Care to hazard a guess......mine is "Zero...zip...nada....nil...."
