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N72EX (Kobe Bryant) Crash Update-

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N72EX (Kobe Bryant) Crash Update-

Old 19th Feb 2021, 16:24
  #121 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by ApolloHeli
Until he crashed and died IIMC.
Exactly...
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Old 19th Feb 2021, 17:22
  #122 (permalink)  
 
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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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Old 19th Feb 2021, 19:20
  #123 (permalink)  
 
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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.
I would imagine he has plenty of experience which makes it all the more surprising he would say something that ridiculous.
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Old 26th Feb 2021, 04:54
  #124 (permalink)  
 
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NTSB Final Accident Report issued.

https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/...ts/AAR2101.pdf
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Old 26th Feb 2021, 12:46
  #125 (permalink)  
 
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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."
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Old 26th Feb 2021, 14:49
  #126 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by John R81
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."
Nothing sobering about the conclusion though, just the textbook step by step list of how to get into IIMC and what happens next.
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Old 26th Feb 2021, 14:55
  #127 (permalink)  
 
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From the report Executive Summary

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.
Not so far from getting away with it...
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Old 26th Feb 2021, 17:34
  #128 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by Airbubba
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
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Old 26th Feb 2021, 18:55
  #129 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by airplanecrazy
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
HTAWS would only have helped if the pilot knew how to keep the aircraft the right way up in the first place.
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Old 26th Feb 2021, 23:14
  #130 (permalink)  
 
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HTAWS wouldn't have changed the outcome, be 100% sure about that. A second pilot is what was required, or better decision making from the first pilot.
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Old 27th Feb 2021, 02:11
  #131 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by gulliBell
HTAWS wouldn't have changed the outcome, be 100% sure about that. A second pilot is what was required, or better decision making from the first pilot.
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.
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Old 27th Feb 2021, 09:22
  #132 (permalink)  
 
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Not so far from getting away with it...
And therein lies the problem - pilots thinking they can get away with it, chancing their arm with no credible plan B.
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Old 27th Feb 2021, 11:09
  #133 (permalink)  
 
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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.
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Old 27th Feb 2021, 17:13
  #134 (permalink)  
 
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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.
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Old 27th Feb 2021, 21:52
  #135 (permalink)  
 
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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.
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Old 27th Feb 2021, 22:26
  #136 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by FH1100 Pilot
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.
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. The Bahamas accident wasn't a proper "two crew" setup and the Norfolk pilots weren't very experienced & properly trained in two crew operations or using the aircraft to it's full capability so you can't conclude out of these accidents that 2 pilots couldn't make a difference.

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Old 28th Feb 2021, 04:53
  #137 (permalink)  
 
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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
?????? Would probably have been IFR in the first place so your point is..................?
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Old 28th Feb 2021, 08:32
  #138 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by RVDT
?????? Would probably have been IFR in the first place so your point is..................?
When I was flying for a VVIP, quite a while back, I flew IFR when required but would always try to drop off my boss at his destination, weather permitting. So there were times after breaking off IFR, I flew very marginal VFR to achieve this but always had an out by climbing up and fly back to the nearest suitable IFR destination. I haven't looked at this trip specifically so not saying it is the case here, being California there probably is an airport with a suitable approach a 15 min drive of their destination but that wasn't always the case for me, more like a 1.5 hr drive at one of his holiday homes for instance.
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?
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Old 28th Feb 2021, 17:46
  #139 (permalink)  
 
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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
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Old 28th Feb 2021, 18:25
  #140 (permalink)  
 
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This one had two pilots; directly employed.

AW139 G-LBAL helicopter crash in Gillingham, Norfolk

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