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I don't know if this has been mentioned, but I will say it any why. Although many have said that the pilot should have filed IFR, this is not the real problem.
The real problem is the pilot probably had very little actual IFR time. For the none pilots reading this, what this means not much or no flying time inside of the clouds. To get an IFR rating and pilot trains with a shield or "foggles" that allows the pilot to only see the instruments and not outside, The pilots whole time training for the Instrument flight rules rating could be just in Visual flight rules conditions.
This may seem good enough but there is a huge difference flying in VFR conditions with foggles on and fly in real IFR conditions. The info on the pilot said he as only been flying for a few years or maybe 10 years.
I'll wager that the pilot had very little if any actual IFR time, especially living in southern California where there is little if any IFR weather.
In this instance of this accident it doesn't matter if he had filed IFR, what really mattered was his ability to fly IFR in the clouds/fog.
Amazing how the feds push to solve a crash when someone famous is involved. They are no more important then others who have been lost..
It was also gross how the other 8 deaths were almost treated like nameless afterthoughts by the media. From time to time, they would mention Bryant's daughter in a headline.. but it was usually a characterization like Kobe Bryant and 8 others.. and I understand the headline value of Bryant's death but..
Two teenagers were killed (Gianna Bryant & Alyssa Altobelli), which seems like the greatest tragedy of the crash..
I don't know if this has been mentioned, but I will say it any why. Although many have said that the pilot should have filed IFR, this is not the real problem.
The real problem is the pilot probably had very little actual IFR time. For the none pilots reading this, what this means not much or no flying time inside of the clouds. To get an IFR rating and pilot trains with a shield or "foggles" that allows the pilot to only see the instruments and not outside, The pilots whole time training for the Instrument flight rules rating could be just in Visual flight rules conditions.
This may seem good enough but there is a huge difference flying in VFR conditions with foggles on and fly in real IFR conditions. The info on the pilot said he as only been flying for a few years or maybe 10 years.
I'll wager that the pilot had very little if any actual IFR time, especially living in southern California where there is little if any IFR weather.
In this instance of this accident it doesn't matter if he had filed IFR, what really mattered was his ability to fly IFR in the clouds/fog.
Pretty obvious that I and others meant and expect the pilot to br IFR current and proficient. I didn't know the company was not IFR certified and yes flying a help IFR is entirely different than fixed wing.
To someone else's point, he flew into IMC while VFR which is against regs and wrong. Yes, many of us have done it, but not with commercial ops at least I never have as I always file, but again that's fixed wing and not commercial.
I guess this illustrates the old saying that "There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots."
This reinforces my idea that if I were ever to be rich enough to have my own plane or helicopter, I would learn to fly the damn thing myself, I and I alone would make the decision to risk my life and my passenger's lives in a given situation. Not to say I have divine knowledge of what I can get away with, just that if I am the principal, I want to make the decision myself. And I think I would make conservative decisions that the greats would be proud of.
I guess this illustrates the old saying that "There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots."
This reinforces my idea that if I were ever to be rich enough to have my own plane or helicopter, I would learn to fly the damn thing myself, I and I alone would make the decision to risk my life and my passenger's lives in a given situation. Not to say I have divine knowledge of what I can get away with, just that if I am the principal, I want to make the decision myself. And I think I would make conservative decisions that the greats would be proud of.
You don't have to be "rich" to own a plane, I am far from it, yet I own one. it is nothing fancy, seats 2 and does 110MPH.
I guess this illustrates the old saying that "There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots."
This reinforces my idea that if I were ever to be rich enough to have my own plane or helicopter, I would learn to fly the damn thing myself, I and I alone would make the decision to risk my life and my passenger's lives in a given situation. Not to say I have divine knowledge of what I can get away with, just that if I am the principal, I want to make the decision myself. And I think I would make conservative decisions that the greats would be proud of.
I disagree. If you are rich enough to own a complex aircraft, fixed wing or rotary, that you rely on for transportation you should insist on it being flown by two(!) professional pilots.
When a loved one needs heart surgery you don't learn how to do that and perform it yourself. You let the pros do it. I know, not the best of comparisons, but I think it gets my point across.
Having said that, nothing wrong with learning to fly and flying yourself but if you are not a full time professional pilot you are likely not going to be as good as one.
I disagree. If you are rich enough to own a complex aircraft, fixed wing or rotary, that you rely on for transportation you should insist on it being flown by two(!) professional pilots.
When a loved one needs heart surgery you don't learn how to do that and perform it yourself. You let the pros do it. I know, not the best of comparisons, but I think it gets my point across.
Having said that, nothing wrong with learning to fly and flying yourself but if you are not a full time professional pilot you are likely not going to be as good as one.
Even with professional pilots.. Things happen. Look at Earnhardt Jr as a recent example.
Thurman Munson, Cory Lidle, Roy Halladay, Davey Allison.. But, the biggest thing about those.. All of them were either new or learning to be pilots. And, of course, Halladay was flying way, way out of his league.
[quote=Stefan_from_Germany;60391640]I disagree. If you are rich enough to own a complex aircraft, fixed wing or rotary, that you rely on for transportation you should insist on it being flown by two(!) professional pilots.
Hiring 2 pro pilots would not only destroy the economics of 4 seat complex GA birds but also the useful load. Not until you get to the cabin class 8 seat twins or turbine machines is it practical and then just barely. May as well use the airlines. Biggest safety factor for GA is avoid the clouds and fog, that knocks out about 90% of the risk. Had Kobe taken the limo on the really foggy days he would still be here.........
I disagree. If you are rich enough to own a complex aircraft, fixed wing or rotary, that you rely on for transportation you should insist on it being flown by two(!) professional pilots.
Hiring 2 pro pilots would not only destroy the economics of 4 seat complex GA birds but also the useful load. Not until you get to the cabin class 8 seat twins or turbine machines is it practical and then just barely. May as well use the airlines. Biggest safety factor for GA is avoid the clouds and fog, that knocks out about 90% of the risk. Had Kobe taken the limo on the really foggy days he would still be here.........
True enough. And I was really talking "jet-rich" or at least "twin-turborpop rich."
I'm no helicoter expert but I suppose a twin turbine helicopter such as the S76 is best flown with two pilots, especially IFR. I understand that this was a VFR flight before anyone points this out.
The sad fact is the pilot community should be doing much better with all the info and hi-tech available. You can look at the basin and the country with a mouse click on apps like skyvector......weather info galore.....but pro or amateur you need to set your own minimums and plan for every occasion. Being a lowly VFR guy I set mine at 5 miles visby and at least 2,000ft broken, and was a chicken fair weather guy anyway. Was ready to land or turn back at the drop of a hat. But the rich and famous have those egos and all that fame to think about with the less fortunate.
With GPS and synthetic vision you would think we should be approaching a near zero accident rate, but we are far from it. With better equipment comes more confidence and "big iron" attitude of this machine can get me there. JFK Jr and this guy both had good machines and even autopilots that would have helped a lot, but both got nailed with disorientation and the aforementioned "getthereitis".
When Cirrus came out with the full frame parachute everybody thought the panacea was here. But it was not to be for quite awhile as the expensive birds were cracking up more than they should. Turns out with the parachute the pilots thought they were flying 757's and invincible. Mother nature thought otherwise. Turns out you had speed and altitude restrictions, above 500ft and less than 133knots before chute pull. For GA taking off into storms and icing was still a bad idea chute or not. Cirrus had to get the right mental attitude going in the pilots before things would improve.
So the GA safety record is really about the same as cars when the same mileage is factored in. Commercial airlines of course are way above GA in safety. Apples and oranges. The sad fact is if the "accident chain" had been broken Kobe and JFK would still be here with 100's of others.
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