CRM courses bang on and on about "the cockpit gradient" maybe for corporate charter they should bang on about the cabin/cockpit gradient. Where the gradient is not from the experienced pilot to the less experienced, whichever seat they occupy, but from the hugely wealthy holder of a pilot's contract to the pilot.
A broad look at UK helicopter accidents over the last ten years shows a fall off in the simpler AS355 types to the far more complex aircraft such as LBAL, I'm thinking offshore as well here. Current aircraft development has brought us into a far more automated place with much more reliance on the automatics, but from personal experience rotary training in the use of automation is far behind fixed wing training in the same arts. In the last five years I have completed two type ratings on highly automated fixed wing and rotary aircraft and the fixed wing course went into far greater detail and simulator time than the rotary course (simulators and trainers provided by the same training provider), but, the helicopter automation is far more complex than the fixed wing due to the greater mechanical and aerodynamic complexity of the helicopter.
When BA Helicopters S61 crashed in the Scilly Isles a lack of RadAlts and poor radar were serious factors, but for the first 2 500 hours of my rotary career I flew S61 equipped with basic SAS, RadAlt, monochrome radar and Decca. In that time I never once saw or heard of a crew getting into a problem due to finger trouble or poor IF skills. On transition to the 332L1 and 2 a lot of time was spent learning the automatics and when to rely on them and when to throw them away (thank you Pete Benson and Mike Tingle)
A final thought as I'm away now for a week in an internetless place. Even if the viz was poor but workable on Wednesday night a helicopter will quite easily create it's own fog bank. In 1997 I was asked by Ops to ground run a 332 before an early take off from Aberdeen. The weather was calm, high pressure temp and dew point the same, viz 7k. By the time I had finished the run the mixing from the helicopter had been enough to put ABZ into LVPs. 5 years ago I landed at night to pick up a customer from his home (helipad lights, PAPIs lead in lights, basically a dream site) but the weather was essentially the same as the morning in Abz. By the time I had shut down the viz was less than 100m, caused by the helicopter. His chauffeur drove me back to base where it was still a clear night and he stayed home.
Before you all shoot me down take a long hard think about your training on the automation on your aircraft and whether you learned most of what you know on the job. Now, take aim.........
SND