During this time of social distancing and staying in place and away from people as much as possible, I find it’s also a time of reflection on my career so far. An incident in my garden recently reminded me of an occurrence that took place when I was flying in Papua New Guinea.
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Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
Recently, I read an article regarding helicopter autorotations from the perspective of a new helicopter student pilot. Although the article was merely an overview of the author’s pre-solo training experience, it was titled “Advanced Autorotations.” Why such a title?
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Rotorcraft Checkride
“Sacred trust.” That is what your passengers give you every time they get into your helicopter to go on a flight. By their very actions they are saying to you, “I am literally placing my life in your hands.”
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Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
Randy, I concur with all your points you bring up about the Ohio Survival Flight 14 accident that you detailed in your January / February 2020 column entitled “Case Study.” I flew for Survival Flight 4 base out if Batesville Arkansas next to their HQ for 9 months. During my time there, I experienced pressure to fly; I was admonished for bringing up maintenance issues as well as questioning the crew endurance policies that were routinely violated by the Lead Pilot. I retired from the Army as CW4 IP, ASO in 2009.
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My Two Cents Worth
A few weeks ago, a pilot within our company was re-positioning a helicopter from the hangar to the ramp. While hovering, he experienced a rough engine, so he landed the helicopter on the taxiway. Seeing this, I walked over and joined him in the helicopter to aid in determining the issue. It was now that I learned that experience may falsely overshadow reality.
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Categories:
Rotorcraft Checkride
As helicopter pilots we often never know the impact we can make on a person’s life. That thought came to mind when I read my good friend’s excellent book, The Sky Behind Me written by Byron Edgington, which I can recommend without reservation.
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Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
On January 26th, 2020, an S76 helicopter collided with terrain killing all nine (9) passengers onboard. The weather at the time of the accident supported a theory that weather may have been a causal factor. All aircraft accidents are bad for the industry; however, this accident helicopter was carrying a high-profile passenger which brought international attention to the situation. The immediate question is why an extremely weather capable helicopter wasn’t transitioned to IFR in lieu of continued flight in less-than-VFR conditions.
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Categories:
Rotorcraft Checkride
Last week, a helicopter student pilot was returning from a solo cross-country flight when the student accidentally entered Class D airspace without the required communication. Although entry into this airspace was planned as a part of the solo cross-country flight, the student miscalculated the position of the helicopter and was farther along than anticipated.
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Categories:
Rotorcraft Checkride
When I teach and facilitate my one-day crew resource management (CRM) course or my five-day CRM train-the-trainer course, attendees often find it difficult to bridge the gap between the human factors they learn to recognize in the course and actually putting their knowledge into practice in the real world to prevent an accident.
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Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
And here we are at the end of yet another year. Where does that proverbial time fly to?
Well, it looks like we’ll end the year on a more positive note from the GOM since both principal rotorcraft providers have emerged from Chapter 11 proceedings. While the new owners are their respective creditors, it will be interesting to see how their long legacies will play out in the future.
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ROTORwrench