Oh no....by all means let's discuss that statement. it very much is relevant to what is being said here.
This is very prevalent in your fine country where lax night flying rules result in frequent EMS accidents.
Two very correctly notes "Rules" get discussed to death. The UK has no shortage of "Rules" as shown by all the discussion extant.
The UK has some very convoluted hoops for folks to leap through in order to be certified as proficient, current, and qualified to perform the duties of a Captain and Co-pilot.
One might even opine that if "Rules" and "Hoops" prevented accidents the UK would be one of the safest places in the World to ride in a Helicopter.
All that being said, we are confronted with multiple situations recently that would indict that line of thinking would we not?
As a Defense Lawyer in this PPRUNE Court, I would have to offer up the defense that notwithstanding any amount of "Rules" to compare with the UK, the US EMS Accident Rate during Night Flight is irrelevant to the case at hand.
I would also submit that the very absence of such "Rules" as the UK enjoys in conjunction with the US EMS Night Flying Accident Rate would prove the absolute failure of the UK "Rules" in effectively preventing fatal accidents.
I would submit to his honor the judge that Two stands falsely charged by Terminous when accused of thinking Judgement and Piloting skills trump "Rules" in importance.
Two is very much correct. We should spend far more time looking at "Why" the decision to depart in the manner it was was done. (I raised that point way back when in this thread as you might recall along with asking why the Take Off profile flown was chosen...as you may also recall.)
The US EMS Helicopter Accident Rate is filled with fatal examples of horrible decisions re flight in minimal weather conditions...dozens and dozens of them.
I say it again, we cannot legislate judgement. It is impossible. Pilot decision making is always going to be an Achilles Heel for us. It matters not whether it is the UK, the USA or Upper Mongolia....Pilots are going to make bad decisions.
As to the First Officer in this tragic crash, all he had to do was have the courage (assuming he was not happy with departing) was to tell the Captain his reasons and if the Captain insisted, Tip his Cap, collect his belongings and call for a Taxi.
Lots of factors played into his agreeing to go along no doubt but he always had that choice no matter how awkward and bad for his career it might have been.
We Pilots do live and die by our decisions don't we?