Sorry for my delayed response...
What level of experience might you suggest? Compared to what is required for a CPL I would have thought their 250 hours in command to be more than reasonable. You seem to be suggesting that a raw bone CPL shouldn't be permitted to carry paying passengers due to lack of experience.
Yes, but as far as I can ascertain, Angel Flight pilots do not require a CPL? A raw bone CPL has done a CPL course - yes, obviously they can carry paying passengers.
The very last thing needed is more "rules", just obey the ones we have. ie stay VMC if that's your category, as Lead Balloon says
Absolutely - I don't advocate any more "rules". The issue is the "stay VMC if that's your category" and then, quite poignantly:
It's caused by human factors issues that have been around forever.
Absolutely correct - I believe there are many similarities between Angel Flight ops and the ops carried out by EMS professionals. The actual pressure (and it's not just "perceived") to get the job done is immense and it is Human Factors which presents the opportunity to press the limits. I am aware that Angel Flight is not utilised for "life and death" situations, but the pressure is clearly there when Timmy needs to get to his dialysis appointment and the only other option is a 4 hour drive... Whereas the EMS industry has the framework and resources to not only teach their operators about the risk, they can (and have) internally regulated to take the decision making away from the crew regarding "do we go or not".
This very real pressure on an Angel Flight pilot cannot be compared to a PPL taking his family/friends for a jolly on the weekend.
Whilst I cannot quote the statistics relating to Angel Flight accidents, my interest/concern in this topic has only developed due to the fact they HAVE been crashing, for similar reasons, over the last 10 years or so - I would be interested if someone does have the stats. Something is amiss and needs to change drastically to stop these accidents happening.
In short, it is my personal opinion, that those conducting Angel Flights ops need a CPL and an Instrument Rating to bring the risk to an acceptable level. Is this realistic/achievable? Maybe not, but without those qualifications, these accidents will continue to occur for the reasons outlined above.