PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - AS332L2 Ditching off Shetland: 23rd August 2013
Old 18th Nov 2013, 11:54
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industry insider
 
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Lots of good ideas and valuable discussion here but the "how" word is still eluding us it seems. I don't have an easy solution.

Being mildly old, I was line trained on the S-61 which was not endowed with power although magnificent. "Never get below Vtoss (67kts if I remember) except when taking off or landing" said my LTC. In later years, shuttling S-61s on the SNS as a Captain at night in haze and still conditions, I never forgot his wise words.

We have had 332Ls, L2s and 225s now for 30+ years. Have we bred a generation of pilots not used to low power aircraft in the real working environment? Was the old "Command Course" using a Bell 206 a good thing and should we reconsider its merits?

Being below Vtoss in any helicopter without it being a deliberate action is not a good place to be. Are we preaching automation without reinforcing the basics?
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