Helicopter Down Chesapeake Bay off Kent Island Maryland
Had he stayed over land....or right along the shoreline....thus having good visible cues or at least the cues to realize he would be losing those cues....perhaps this might have been avoided.
A local flight in 400/3 conditions is not all that risky....for an experienced pilot.
A local flight in 400/3 conditions is not all that risky....for an experienced pilot.
Now I've flown low over water before, but its one thing to be say 50 to 100 feet above the water on a nice sunny day, and quite another when there's a solid layer of grey a stone's throw right above your head!
One witness stated that the weather was "cloudy and the fog was heavy." Another witness reported that the helicopter was "flying very low to the water in dense fog," before the accident occurred.
With a 400' ceiling, just how high do you fly?
cloudy misty day over water without IFR experience and proper equipped helicopter is playing russian roulette - just without knowing excatly, how much time left until you die.
I started my flying with the Navy - and was more than once happy, that IfR was part of the Syllabus, even so we operated 100 % „VFR“ over the water...
From „I can see a horizon“ to „Where the f... is the horizon“ between the grey sky and grey water was often just a glimpse of the eye.
I go along with Robbie, surprised, that he could rent that bird at that METAR with that „experience“ - but who knows, what he was telling them....
I started my flying with the Navy - and was more than once happy, that IfR was part of the Syllabus, even so we operated 100 % „VFR“ over the water...
From „I can see a horizon“ to „Where the f... is the horizon“ between the grey sky and grey water was often just a glimpse of the eye.
I go along with Robbie, surprised, that he could rent that bird at that METAR with that „experience“ - but who knows, what he was telling them....
