Devil 49 and Shawn Coyle each make valid points but I would have to side with 49 as he is in this business and does these flights frequently. Over the past few years he has made very insightful posts on this topic.
That being said....at about this point in our discussions on this topic over the years...usually following a tragedy such as this one...I post the Federal Air Regulation that pertains to Night VFR flight by Part 135 Air Taxi Operators.
I shall do so again and understand folks....I am the one to high light the words that are in bold print. Unfortunately the FAA does not do so when printing the documents that hold the following information.
§ 135.207 VFR: Helicopter surface reference requirements.
No person may operate a helicopter under VFR unless that person has visual surface reference or, at night, visual surface light reference, sufficient to safely control the helicopter.
I got to making Night VFR flights into IFR flights...."I Follow Roads"...well light roads...with lots of automobile traffic (thus lots of lights)...it might take a few minutes longer....but it sure made it easier!
Now...put yourself in a situation where you have 10SM vis with a 600-1000 foot variable ceiliing and a One Degree Temp/Dew Point spread....and a very rural sparsely lit terrain. Add in the issue of the flight being very "Time Sensitive" and probably a no notice request for a flight.
Add in the fact the aircraft was a strictly VFR machine, had no Stability Augmentation or Auto Pilot....was single pilot....
We can see where this is headed.
Such events are absolute tragedies on multiple levels and have to be addressed as such by those of us who seek to find answers out of what happened.
I suggest we all can learn from such events....or at least should as we are all subject to being a victim if we do not keep our guard up and seek the safe road when we are confronted with making decisions as this very experienced and dedicated Pilot had to do the other morning.
Look in the mirror here guys and gals...he got up that morning just like we all do at some time in our flying careers and was confronted with the need to make a decision that was not easy to make.
Until we learn the results of the official investigation we shall not know (and probably will not know even then) what actually happened to cause the fatal crash. Until then all is mere supposition....and we should remember that.
The hardest word for Pilots to utter is the simple one syllable word "NO!"
We have to say it to ourselves first....and get used to saying it...before we can call ourselves "Professional Pilots".