Experience?
Crab and BB, does it seem like the pilots who have been thru experiences akin to this are the ones who ( as I do as well ) agree that the Coasties made the smart call? I will admit to being a little influenced by contact with that group over 39 years off and on. Before even reading about the weather in play here, my inclination would have been that if a USCG pilot called it off, thats all one needed to judge the conditions.
Supportive Anecdote:
Got a call from a pilot who was in a country south of the border with a brand new S-76 sold into a head of state operation. he was doing some transition training and wound up doing a mission with the President aboard. Getting close to the destination, they ran into a situation wherein there was a really large rainstorm that had enveloped the destination and wasn't moving. No navaids or the like and it was beside a large mountain. Rather than hovering up the road in the storm, he put the machine down beside the road and called for ground transport.
I submitted this action for a safety award ( a reasonable, but spendable one ) which the pilot received and which we used at the next Safety Stand Down to emphasize the principle that several others have proposed here: when the PIC makes a decision that the circumstances do not warrant further flight, that decision ought to, and will be supported.
Some may know the pilot involved, as he has had a long and respected career. Art Tobey came to SA having been the Ch Pilot at SF Airways in their S-61 operation. Not an amateur instrument pilot either. His word and opinion were always listened to. Certainly one of SA's finest.
There is another possibility here, which may have been in play. The original news story mentioned the machine being on an angle not safe for takeoff, or words to that effect. Have no idea what the slope limits are for the 365, but if the pilot put it down, let it settle on the gear at flat pitch, and noticed that the attitude indicator showed a roll attitude a degree or two over their published limit, that may have complicated things. Does not change my assessment of their decision one whit.
Last edited by JohnDixson; 18th Nov 2014 at 12:00.