No. Read the article Guinessman linked in Post 55. It's a pretty solid breakdown of what likely happened based on the info available at this point. Disorientation due to weather / reduced visibility caused a crash into a hillside. Pilot transitioned from VFR to IFR conditions, became disoriented and hit one hillside he didn't see in the process of trying to avoid one that he did see.Originally Posted by Redhat
There is no indication of a mechanical issue at this time.
Here is another article on the accident. Apparently, the Operator of the Helicopter, Island Air Express, was not approved for IFR Helicopter Operations:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremyb.../#4d1e119a26ea
“Rule Books are paper- they will not cushion a sudden meeting of stone and metal.”
—Ernest K Gann
Rotors under high load will make a popping sound that folks could easily confuse for sputtering or mechanical failure. Also these aircraft are powered by jet turbine engines and they don’t really sputter, they bang! As George said - eyewitnesses are usually not the most reliable in these cases.
It amazes me how such an expensive and state of the art bird as the 76B is could be operated the way it apparently was. Hell in my freight dog days we had far better and more conservative ops and we flew pimp slapped regional airline hand me downs.......
For our pilots - what would folks generally consider acceptable conditions for VFR flight? They took off, ceiling was 1,300 and visibility 5-miles in a haze. Are those conditions not good enough? Obviously, more ceiling and more visibility is better. But I don't know what the minimum should be.
On the one hand, visibility of 5-miles seems fine to me - on the other - the chopper was flying 176 mph....so 5-miles evaporates quickly.
Unfortunately, the passengers are a lot more impressed with the paint job and leather seats than a good avionics suite and a second pilot.
This VFR only 135 certificate is a real problem, and too often rears its ugly head when a VFR only float operator CFITs into terrain in SE AK. I refused to ride the Beavers and Otters anymore out of Ketchikan on an annual fishing trip I do, and ride by boat instead. Once the operation is VFR only, the instrument skills perish, and instead of the service ceiling of the aircraft being limiting, it becomes the height of the lowest cloud deck. My instinct in a jet, bush plane or helicopter is to climb away from the ground when there is trouble. Those pilots that don’t regularly fly instruments are afraid to go up and, as a result, run into the rocks when they would have been safe just feet higher.
The question about minimum visibility and ceilings for prudent VFR operation is too hard to answer because it is dependent upon the pilot and their currency, the terrain nearby, the type aircraft and equipment on board. If you guess wrong and have to climb and request a pop up instrument clearance is a very different scenario where the weather worsens and you have to crash. A well equipped and crew piloted turbine helicopter is generally my first choice in low conditions, because the helicopter’s ability gives it so much capability. We have routinely done stuff in helicopters that would be untenable in a fixed wing.
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Like @GJM says, it depends on the pilot, the airplane, the equipment, the terrain, etc. Here are what the regs say:
I’m not terribly surprised by the 135 operation being VFR only. I know a lot of helicopter, many of them are instrument-rated...but I don’t think any of them are instrument-current. Most of them just got the rating because a job required it, but never required them to use it.
Just a low-time private here, but my experience with haze is that lighting makes a huge difference. Haze with sun at your back and haze with the sun in your face are very different conditions.
Flying also drove home that all weather is local. It’s impressive how much conditions can change in a few minutes or miles.
My only experience with SVFR was one day when my instructor got us SVFR clearance to do pattern work. I went around once, barely clear of the ceiling on the downwind, told him I thought it was stupid, and ended the flight.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
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