Dave-jackson et all
I bet you like other sensible aviators are appalled at the accident rate of light helicopters, but I think that trying to protect these people from a mechanical mishap catching them unawares is covering up the core problem.
AND THAT IS POOR TRAINING
PPL (A and H),s are the poor relations when comes to the regulatory bodies in the Uk and many other countries the industry is left to police it,s self, This has led to Schools having thier own (pet) examiner who more often than not is to close to the company to be totaly objective There are two ways for a school to gain a high student pass rate and too many take the easy way out.
The USA system like many others is a joke, no longer should a newly qualified pilot be allowed to give instruction so as to enable them to gain Hours to become "experienced" themselves
It,s time for the Authorities to grab the nettle and fund examiners, thus removing any link when presented with a candidate for testing. the candidate should be graded on the test and this grade used by the authorities to determine the frequency of inspections thereby giving a incentive to the school to present a good quality candidate. All to often I have seen examineers turn up and rush tests as they have themselves other jobs to do, this results in making assumptions rather than sound judgement.
I have checked out pilots from many schools that wanted to self fly hire our a/c and the training shows up immediatly, and not just in the a/c.
I dont want to close this rant without saying that not all schools are like this, its been my experiance to work at a couple who enjoy a very good reputation in the industry but these are to few and therfore somthing should be done rather than constantly blaming the a/c.
"Crap in Crap out"
