Reply to Kobe Bryant killed in helicopter crash (per TMZ)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Posting here some thoughts from a licensed pilot:

NTSB officials said the pilot had asked for and received special clearance to fly in heavy fog just minutes before the crash.

Flying in inherently dangerous, rules are in place for safety reasons. Manipulating the rules even if it's legal can get you killed. The pilot's altitude and course were erratic indicating he was flying in and out of instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) and he had no situational awareness and ultimately flew into the ground. Basically what he was doing is called scud running. Scud running can cause vertigo really fast because you are looking outside the aircraft into the soup, the fog, the clouds. You can’t tell up from down or left from right, you have to depend on the instruments. In my view, his first mistake was not filling an instrument flight plan before take-off. His second mistake was not filling IFR in the air after the weather started to deteriorate. His third mistake was to continue on a prayer and a hope the weather was going to get better. His fourth mistake was he was not being truthful with  Air Traffic Control (ATC), there is no way he maintained visual flight conditions (VFR). His fifth mistake he squawked 1200 and descended below a good altitude for radar contact. I called the pilot’s actions a mistake because his actions lead to the end result. There are indications the aircraft's speed was 184 MPH and descending at a rate of more than 4,000 feet per minute when it struck the ground. That would mean the pilot lost all situational awareness and ground impact was imminent. At that speed and rate of descent, death was instant.

A better choice in my view would be to file an IFR flight plan, program it into his flight management system, get his clearance,  take off and turn on the autopilot. If his course needed to change ATC would have given him vectors, all the way to his destination. The S-76 max cruising altitude is 20,000 feet. The pilot's last reported altitude was 1200 feet. And It has the state of the art navigational equipment installed. He could have made an instrument approach at his destination and he didn't need 5,000 feet of runway to land, 200-foot minimums or be traveling at 110 knots as I  always did.

I attached a picture of me flying in the soup, IFR, with zero visibility. The white you see behind me is thick clouds. Flying on instruments requires training and experience. I can’t imagine Kobe’s pilot not being instrument rated and current. The NTSB will determine if he was. I find the death of all these individuals so, so unnecessary. R.I.P.[/quote]

All of this. I absolutely predict lawsuits from non-Bryant families. If that were spouse/child on board I’d be mad as hell at the circumstances. This was not a freak accident, it was quite preventable.[/quote]

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