FAA To Mandate In-Flight Cloud Deck Measuring Equipment for EMS Helicopters
Thread Starter
That ain't gonna work....not a minute Shawn....you still owe me that bottle!
Now was it old Scot's whisky or a fine Italian wine???
Now was it old Scot's whisky or a fine Italian wine???
"Just a pilot"
"In-flight cloud deck measuring equipment" I hope that's a joke. If it's not, I'm in big trouble when these 'safety improvement rules' come down on me.
I'll repeat: singles and twins; IFR and VFR equipment; IFR and VFR flights; IMC and VMC have all come to grief in the latest spate of night fatals in the US. Yep, weather is a HUGE risk factor, but it doesn't change the basic issues: We're flying stupid because we usually don't schedule our night shifts scientifically. That promotes the situations to take bad decisions and minimizes your ability to deal with them- the pistol is locked and loaded;
We're flying blind- 20/200 to 20/400, nights unaided, can't see and avoid the weather- the muzzles going into the mouth...
The single night US EMS NVG accident I know of is rumored to have been declined for weather by the line pilot, taken by a management-type who removed the goggles to crash, and SURVIVED the crash in mountainous terrain. That's it, as far as I know, for US NVG EMS accidents. In itself, that event's a left-handed endorsement of the technology benefits, the pilot DID survive. NVGs are simply the best equipment- that is, real world- answer to the problem. It's criminal to allow pilots into the cockpit mentally impaired by poor rest- the equivalent of three drinks, typically- but no operator has addressed it, and many pilots ignore it.
Rant mode off.
I'll repeat: singles and twins; IFR and VFR equipment; IFR and VFR flights; IMC and VMC have all come to grief in the latest spate of night fatals in the US. Yep, weather is a HUGE risk factor, but it doesn't change the basic issues: We're flying stupid because we usually don't schedule our night shifts scientifically. That promotes the situations to take bad decisions and minimizes your ability to deal with them- the pistol is locked and loaded;
We're flying blind- 20/200 to 20/400, nights unaided, can't see and avoid the weather- the muzzles going into the mouth...
The single night US EMS NVG accident I know of is rumored to have been declined for weather by the line pilot, taken by a management-type who removed the goggles to crash, and SURVIVED the crash in mountainous terrain. That's it, as far as I know, for US NVG EMS accidents. In itself, that event's a left-handed endorsement of the technology benefits, the pilot DID survive. NVGs are simply the best equipment- that is, real world- answer to the problem. It's criminal to allow pilots into the cockpit mentally impaired by poor rest- the equivalent of three drinks, typically- but no operator has addressed it, and many pilots ignore it.
Rant mode off.
