Flight data/cockpit voice on Kobe crash
01-30-2020, 09:14 AM
#31
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2010
Posts: 343
Originally Posted by rickair7777
Don't know what a guy with that kind of money was doing using a single-pilot VFR operator in a cloud-prone area. The pilot's certs and ratings seem pretty basic, not sure if you'd expect a professional helo pilot to have perhaps some heavier type ratings?
Zobayan had Comm helo, instrument helo, and helo CFII. The only apple missing is ATP. IMHO, his times would be considered quite acceptable for his job. I am sorry I cannot recall where I read the breakdown on his total time (8200), helo time, and time in type.
01-30-2020, 09:48 AM
#32
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2011
Posts: 516
Are autopilots common in helos? Or even more specifically in the S76? As a guy who has never even ridden in a helo, I genuinely don’t know. Just wondering if that capability is there to help out in single pilot situations like this?
Also I agree with someone else that the pressure of getting to the basketball game will likely be a major factor. That even may have been what drove the decision to not file IFR.
Also I agree with someone else that the pressure of getting to the basketball game will likely be a major factor. That even may have been what drove the decision to not file IFR.
01-30-2020, 05:24 PM
#35
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2019
Position: Guppy.
Posts: 285
Originally Posted by EasternATC
He couldn't file instruments because the company operating cert. was VFR only.
I don't know if the S76B is approved for single-pilot IFR. Help, anybody?
I don't know if the S76B is approved for single-pilot IFR. Help, anybody?
01-30-2020, 08:03 PM
#36
Prime Minister/Moderator
Joined APC: Jan 2006
Position: Engines Turn Or People Swim
Posts: 39,261
Originally Posted by KonaJoe
I'm hopeful it will result in some changes.
01-30-2020, 09:07 PM
#37
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2011
Position: Volleyball Player
Posts: 3,982
Originally Posted by Tandem46
Highly, highly unlikely. True, he hit just below a crest of a small ridge, but that ridge was surrounded by other much higher ridges. Factor in that he was descending at 2000fpm (disoriented and out of control), the fact that he hit 20-30’ below a ridge was pure, well, I don’t want to say coincident but he had to hit somewhere. As a former Navy helo pilot and prior S-76 pilot in the Gulf of Mexico where we flew IFR routinely during the winter, I don’t understand how he lost control so easily. He did the wrong thing by scud running in those hills, but then he did the right thing by getting on the gauges and trying to climb above the terrain. If he was rated/current/proficient on instruments, he should have been able to pull that off.
AIrcraft is running in the obscuration and can't see more than a few hundred feet ahead, if that. Maybe even trying to let down. They think they are in a safe corridor or area, but when the vis is low it plays all sorts of tricks and you don't realize you are not quite where you think you are. Suddenly, a mountain/hill approaches right in front. They pull back for all they are worth, gaining altitude, but it's not quite enough and they crash just below the top of the mountain/ridge/hill. More than a few have skipped off the front side (just below the top) to tumble down the backside. It happens too fast due to their forward speed. It's usually not a climbing maneuver because they "entered IMC". It's a last-ditch climbing maneuver because cumulus-granite appeared right in front.
01-31-2020, 12:07 PM
#39
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2007
Position: retired
Posts: 992
Originally Posted by Tandem46
Highly, highly unlikely. True, he hit just below a crest of a small ridge, but that ridge was surrounded by other much higher ridges. Factor in that he was descending at 2000fpm (disoriented and out of control), the fact that he hit 20-30’ below a ridge was pure, well, I don’t want to say coincident but he had to hit somewhere. As a former Navy helo pilot and prior S-76 pilot in the Gulf of Mexico where we flew IFR routinely during the winter, I don’t understand how he lost control so easily. He did the wrong thing by scud running in those hills, but then he did the right thing by getting on the gauges and trying to climb above the terrain. If he was rated/current/proficient on instruments, he should have been able to pull that off.
01-31-2020, 12:51 PM
#40
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2011
Position: Volleyball Player
Posts: 3,982
Originally Posted by nfnsquared
^^^^ except for the part about the 2000 fpm descent right before impact.
FYI, for those asking, AOPA is reporting that the pilot had 1250 time in type...
FYI, for those asking, AOPA is reporting that the pilot had 1250 time in type...
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
