N72EX (Kobe Bryant) Crash Update-
I think it was Mike Tyson who said 'Everyone has a plan, right up until they get punched in the face' - well IIMC is the aviation equivalent of getting punched in the face.
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Originally Posted by [email protected]
I think FED has more than enough real-world experience of IMC, I believe his point was that you don't necessarily need an AI/AH to recover from a UA - however that was in a FW not RW.
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Makes very sobering reading. And the conclusion:
"3.2 Probable Cause
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the pilot’s decision to continue flight under visual flight rules into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in the pilot’s spatial disorientation and loss of control. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s likely self-induced pressure and the pilot’s plan continuation bias, which adversely affected his decision-making, and Island Express Helicopters Inc.’s inadequate review and oversight of its safety management processes."
"3.2 Probable Cause
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the pilot’s decision to continue flight under visual flight rules into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in the pilot’s spatial disorientation and loss of control. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s likely self-induced pressure and the pilot’s plan continuation bias, which adversely affected his decision-making, and Island Express Helicopters Inc.’s inadequate review and oversight of its safety management processes."
Makes very sobering reading. And the conclusion:
"3.2 Probable Cause
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the pilot’s decision to continue flight under visual flight rules into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in the pilot’s spatial disorientation and loss of control. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s likely self-induced pressure and the pilot’s plan continuation bias, which adversely affected his decision-making, and Island Express Helicopters Inc.’s inadequate review and oversight of its safety management processes."
"3.2 Probable Cause
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the pilot’s decision to continue flight under visual flight rules into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in the pilot’s spatial disorientation and loss of control. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s likely self-induced pressure and the pilot’s plan continuation bias, which adversely affected his decision-making, and Island Express Helicopters Inc.’s inadequate review and oversight of its safety management processes."
From the report Executive Summary
Not so far from getting away with it...
Weather conditions reported to the pilot by air traffic controllers during the flight included an overcast ceiling at
1,100 ft agl, visibility of 2.5 miles with haze, and cloud tops at 2,400 ft msl.
...
The helicopter reached an altitude of about 2,370 ft msl (about 1,600 ft agl) at 0945:15,
then it began to descend rapidly in a left turn to the ground.
1,100 ft agl, visibility of 2.5 miles with haze, and cloud tops at 2,400 ft msl.
...
The helicopter reached an altitude of about 2,370 ft msl (about 1,600 ft agl) at 0945:15,
then it began to descend rapidly in a left turn to the ground.
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I'm a little surprised that there was no mention of TAWS and the investigators' conclusion that it wouldn't have helped in this situation. Some armchair pundits thought that it would have helped, and I thought perhaps the NTSB might have disabused pilots of that notion. Here is the lead investigator from the NTSB board meeting talking about TAWS.: NTSB Board Meeting
Spot on Gulli, assumption being a competent pilot (crew) taking appropriate action to an EGPWS command. The pilot was sadly not IFR proficient or current and apparently not proficient in acft system management. HTAWS/EGPWS would not have helped in this situation.
Not so far from getting away with it...
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Gulli
Can’t agree ref second pilot being needed I’m afraid - two AW139 accidents in Norfolk UK and Grand Cay Bahamas prove that. What was needed was a pilot that knew and respected his limitations.
Can’t agree ref second pilot being needed I’m afraid - two AW139 accidents in Norfolk UK and Grand Cay Bahamas prove that. What was needed was a pilot that knew and respected his limitations.
Yeah, I know. I've seen so many second pilots arriving at the scene of the accident on recurrent sim checks, sitting on their hands saying and doing nothing whilst the other pilot drives it into the dirt upside down. A second pilot might have saved the day here, or might not.
What bothers me so much about this accident is that it wasn't just some goober 135-pilot in a VFR-only Bell 206 who punched-in and lost it. No, it was the *Chief Goober*...an Instrument Rated Chief Goober...in an all-singing, all-dancing S-76, a helicopter fully capable of IFR flight with a big ol' attitude indicator positioned right in front of him...unlike the aforementioned 206 in which the flight instrument group are skewed off to the left. And yet this Chief Goober punched-in and then somehow lost control while in the process of climbing through a relatively thin layer/deck. (We can assume that he knew that it was a thin layer - I mean, there were probably enough breaks for him to have seen up through it. And so climbing up on top and continuing on VFR to Camarillo was probably his exact plan.)
Two pilots might have helped! Oh really? Tell that to the passengers of that two-pilot AW-139 that crashed in the Bahamas when those two goobers couldn't even make a (basically) ITO at night.
Or how's about back in 2019 when that Instrument Rated girl in the EMS 407 that snowy day in Ohio, U.S. who arrived at the base before sunrise and jumped into the ship with it already running, and then blasted off without doing a proper (and required) weather check or risk-assessment..
And those are just three. There are others - I'm sure you can come up with some right off the top of your head. So here's the thing: What does this say about us as a group? To me, it says that we're pretty crappy pilots when it comes to decision-making and skills. We need to stop thinking that we're all heroes and that none of these accidents would ever happen to us, because we're so much better than them dead goobers.
And then maybe there'd be a few less dead goobers.
Two pilots might have helped! Oh really? Tell that to the passengers of that two-pilot AW-139 that crashed in the Bahamas when those two goobers couldn't even make a (basically) ITO at night.
Or how's about back in 2019 when that Instrument Rated girl in the EMS 407 that snowy day in Ohio, U.S. who arrived at the base before sunrise and jumped into the ship with it already running, and then blasted off without doing a proper (and required) weather check or risk-assessment..
And those are just three. There are others - I'm sure you can come up with some right off the top of your head. So here's the thing: What does this say about us as a group? To me, it says that we're pretty crappy pilots when it comes to decision-making and skills. We need to stop thinking that we're all heroes and that none of these accidents would ever happen to us, because we're so much better than them dead goobers.
And then maybe there'd be a few less dead goobers.
IMHO two experienced pilots, trained in multicrew VFR & IFR operations, would have made this accident less likely because the workload could be shared and they could have used the aircraft to its full capability when ending up in IMC
Looking back at that, with now a lot of two crew experience, I know that it would have been a lot safer to have another trained pilot with me. And what is another pilot salary in the grand scheme of things for a multi millionaire?
and therein lies the problem - I wonder how many HNW individuals are under the illusion that they have 2 properly-trained (MCC/CRM/Sim/checklists/Sops/Ops Manuals etc) pilots up front? They see the gold bars and assume we, the industry, would not be allowed to just stick a costume on anyone in the front
