|
Oct
27
2023
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
As the pilot straps in the helicopter, he or she begins to go through the checklist and starts moving switches to their proper positions. Battery on, fuel pump on, and throttle set. The last thing a pilot does before he engages the start switch is to look over his shoulder and yell, “Clear!”
[Read More...]
Tags:
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Categories:
Maintenance Minute
|
Oct
27
2023
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
It should come as no surprise that unintended entry into Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) has plagued our industry sector for decades. Thankfully, wonderful organizations like the USHST, HAI, and others have relentlessly tried to curb the problem. However, at least weekly, I read a news blurb about another helicopter that crashed after the pilot “encountered diminishing weather conditions.” The certificate level and experience level of those involved in these accidents vary. Each of these tragedies begs questions: How did they get into that situation? Given the situation, were they prepared for it once they found themselves there? Obviously, these are rhetorical questions, given the outcome of the numerous news stories. Many factors can be deduced to explain this situation. Still, I think most would agree that properly learning the warning signs of potential IMC scenarios and how to adequately control the helicopter by reference to instruments is lacking.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Matt Johnson
Rotorcraft Checkride
Categories:
Rotorcraft Checkride
|
Oct
27
2023
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
As an industry, we fall victim to the questionable behavior of our brethren pilots and their sometimes-misguided follies. Not directly, but in the form of increased regulatory oversight, increased insurance premiums, and a sense by the public that helicopters are just unsafe! The evidence for such a belief is derived from the countless hours of helicopter crash videos found online. Not to mention the movies that often use a helicopter crash as the go-to ending for a high energy chase finale.
[Read More...]
Tags:
My 2 Cents Worth
Randy Rowles
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
|
Sep
22
2023
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
Everyone has heard about these technologies that promise to reshape our industry. But no one knows exactly how that reshaping will occur. Each step forward depends on a multitude of factors, including engineering breakthroughs, federal and state regulations, commercial contracts, government budgets, and even consumer demand.
[Read More...]
Tags:
AUVSI
Uncrewed
|
Sep
22
2023
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
I knew at age 16 I wanted to fly when I saw my first medical helicopter pick up a trauma patient in front of me. I began my career in air medicine at the ripe old age of 24 as a flight nurse at Lifeline in Rockford, Illinois. It was several years later that safety took on a new meaning when I later flew for AirLife-Denver in Colorado, and our program experienced a fatal crash that rocked me to my core. I was afforded the resources to heal and saw meaningful industry-wide changes develop over time. I still applaud AirLife’s leadership who first supported their people and then mined for lessons learned, sharing them broadly to enhance safety for all. When I became their le
[Read More...]
Tags:
Safety First
VAST
Categories:
Safety First
|
Sep
22
2023
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
In recent months, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has joined forces with the Veterans Administration (VA) in a collaborative effort to identify pilots who, whether intentionally or unintentionally, have failed to accurately disclose receiving disability benefits.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Mil2Civ
|
Aug
28
2023
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
Many facets of our lives, both personal and professional, changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. One significant entity within the aviation industry, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), took great strides in protecting their staff by providing a path for most FAA employees to work from home. During the pandemic, connecting with an FAA staff member once the communication process was developed and released seemed to be simple and functional. As an operator, we were pleasantly surprised by the expeditious email and phone call returns that were occurring in this new FAA work-from-home world, but this was all about to change.
[Read More...]
Tags:
My Two Cents Worth
Randy Rowles
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
|
Aug
28
2023
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
What we often think will be "easy" quite often turns complicated. This seems to hold true for those seeking an "add-on" rating, such as the pilot with an airplane private pilot certificate who desires to add a rotorcraft-helicopter rating to their pilot certificate. These pilots may have started their primary training in a basic fixed-wing trainer, earned their certificate, and decided to move on to helicopters for pleasure or career aspirations.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Matt Johnson
Rotorcraft Checkride
Categories:
Rotorcraft Checkride
|
Aug
28
2023
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
“The dreaded “on call”, and “the duty” were just a couple of terms of endearment that we used to describe being “on call” for aircraft maintenance. There were other names with more colorful adjectives that I will not mention here. For certain, in jobs like EMS, Fire/Rescue and Law Enforcement being “on call” is just part of the gig. “On call” could be most frustrating for the mechanic but it also could be very rewarding. Let’s take a quick look from both prospectives.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
On Call
Categories:
Maintenance Minute
|
Jul
27
2023
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
One dark night on the San Diego coast, my crew was launched for LE to intercept a drug-laden “panga” en route from Mexico to the U.S. We got the intel from our command center and launched into the blackness to find our panga. As we headed west over the Pacific Ocean with our radar scanning the surface of the water and our night vision goggles tuned up, we encountered declining ceilings at 1,000 feet AWL. We continued our search pattern at 700 feet and as the evening got cooler, the ceilings got lower. When we went down to 500 feet AWL, we discussed our hard deck of 200 feet AWL and termination of the search. We went down to 300 feet and finally at 200 feet we reached our limit and returned to base. The risk to my crew in declining ceilings was not worth the gain of finding the drug runner.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Dave McCarthy
Safety First
VAST
Categories:
Safety First