I am amazed at the tiptoeing going on around here.With the exception of TC,everybody here seems to want to give the pilot a get -out- of -jail -free card.
Fact of the matter is that Peter Barnes might have been God's gift to aviation but,at the end, he was human just like the rest of us.He was afflicted with the very human pressure of making a buck ---or not. He displayed all the Hazardous Attitudes,in spades, and, at the end of a very illustrious career, made a cold calculated decision which cost him his life.There is no getting around all these facts and we will be better served as an industry if we don't.The time for mourning and paying respects is over.The time to learn lessons is here and if we keep trying to blame ATC,Cranes,Culture and what have you,we will have another one of these in short order.
By the way, it is never okay to text or pull out a laptop to check scheduling when you are entrusted with a multi- million dollar asset.I seem to recall a fellow EMS pilot texting and running out of fuel and the group here was quick to condemn. I also recall an airliner that overshot Minneapolis because the pilots were busy with a laptop going over schedules.The former is dead and the latter are without a job.So ,if you call yourself a professional, do not even debate the VFR okay to text/IFR not okay to text issue.It is unbecoming.Ask yourself, where do we draw the line? If it is VFR On Top and I am on autopilot, is it okay to pull out my smart phone and catch up on the latest episode of House Of Cards?
Alt 3.