I ran across this today....refers to an IIMC event in Idaho. The Crew encountered IMC weather at night, climbed to altitude, filed IFR, and returned home safely.
Sounds like a simple straight forward deal does't it?
As I read the report....a question came to me.
Why did the Debrief lead to a decision to review Emergency Procedures....and no referral to Weather Analysis and Preflight Planning?
Date: March 13, 2012
Weather: Night, Intermittent Rain, Snow
Team: Pilot, Nurse, Paramedic. No injuries reported. No patient.
Description:
The night of March 13, 2012, the aircraft was responding to a
request for an interhospital transfer for which conditions at both
destination and Boise were VMC. En route, they skirted intermittent
squalls. Approximately half way to their destination, they observed a
wall of unreported IMC and made the decision to abort the flight and
return to Boise. On return, they encountered IMC that had developed
behind them. Rather than land at night in uncertain terrain, the pilot
made the decision to initiate a climb to 10,000 feet, file and execute
an IFR approach to Boise. The aircraft is single pilot IFR rated, and
the pilot is IFR current.
Additional Info:
The crew debriefed immediately following the flight. In addition
program leadership and the operator conducted an in-depth debriefing.
Based upon this flight, a review of in-flight emergency procedures for
all team members is being conducted.