Grand Canyon Accident: Pilot killed in AS350 rollover

[Flying Lawyer]

Sid

FAR 1.1
The period when the accident occurred was not, in my opinion, Flight time within the meaning of the definition.

Your attempt to introduce the words 'capable of flight' is a red herring, a distraction.
(As is "he didn't ensure that the aircraft couldn't become airborne without the 'legal minimum flight crew'.")


You say (to Bob):

in your mind he did nothing 'wrong' ... yet ended up dead!

That is not what Bob said.
He said:

Considering the outcome, there is no argument he made the "wrong" choice.

Legality

Bob's position:

My position is he was free to make whatever decision he wished in this as there were no legal prohibitions (that we know of) to forbid him doing as he did.

Your position: The pilot acted unlawfully.
I express no opinion because I haven't researched the FAA legislation nor any relevant appeal court decisions (if they exist), nor do I know all the circumstances. I'm not inclined to do the research, partly because it would take a long time but mainly because I don't regard legality as the primary issue in this discussion.

IMHO by far the most important issue, which Bob and several others have been emphasising and you now appear to accept (?) is set out in your final sentence:

Now what can be done to prevent this type of incident happening again?

Nothing can be done to prevent this type of incident happening again. There are clearly things that could be done to reduce the number. We've already had some suggestions, mainly from pilots who have experience of, or are familiar with, the sort of ops in which the practice regularly occurs.

Any injury/fatality is obviously a serious matter but I have no reason to believe that it is a major issue relative to the frequency of the practice in many parts of the world.
It may be. I don't know the statistics.