As regards the 155
AP and SAS out - in VMC it's very manageable indeed including hovering and landing. I've practiced it on many occasions. (Yes I know what the checklist says about a running landing but it's simply not necessary).
In IMC it's certainly harder work (I've only done it simulated in the helicopter as I'm not foolhardy enough to pickle out the AP and SAS in IMC). SAS only is very manageable with sole reference to instruments as long as you keep your scan going. SAS out is effing hard work but it's manageable at the correct speed.
The Simulator - It's a bag of weasels in comparison to the actual helicopter. AP and SAS out in IMC is a b!tch and in no way representative of how the helicopter handles. (Having said that I can usually survive it despite the best endeavours of the Sim driver).
As for the accident we're talking about...
I don't subscribe to the suggestion that "This kind of thing can happen to anyone"
This kind of thing can only happen to someone who flies beyond their own and their aircraft's limits. Yes we can all end up in circumstances where we are under pressure but that's when the Professional bit of you has to stand up and say "No".
No doubt there will be those who will pounce on me and start with the "You've clearly never been in that kind of situation yourself"... No I have not because I've said "No" lot's of times. I've been placed in horribly pressured situations with red faced passengers screaming at me and poking me from the cabin but I still say "no". I've also got myself into crappy weather and turned around later than I might have done but I've never boxed myself into a situation where I was committed to IMC in an aircraft that could not do it.
This video needs to be shown to all pilots, especially those of VFR only machines and those without instrument ratings.
There also needs to be an acceptance by our industry that this kind of cr@p just is not acceptable. The cowboys that do this should be sacked rather than congratulated for getting the job done.
I remember turing back in a two crew IFR rated machine and passing a single pilot public transport R44 (with a non IFR pilot) with three pax going the way I had just abandoned. I mentioned it to his Chief Pilot a few days later - Not interested. I mentioned it to a CAA flt Ops inspector - Not interested.
