"The pilot suddenly and rapidly climbed from about 1200 feet up to 2000 feet. However, moments later—around 9:45 AM—they flew into a mountain at 1700 feet. Flight tracker data shows they were flying at about 161 knots." This qoute in the article above is suggestive of a IIMC event, the first thing you do is climb. Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
Fire may be different than military helo flights. I know a handful of guys my age with 20 years of fire aviation experience they all have an oh **** story to tell.
I work air medical, not nearly as dangerous as fire or military ops, but not quite as controlled of an environment as commercial helicopter operations. Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
One other thing that is important to note, when you see reports of them flying at 1400'. Thats mean sea level and not above ground level, so theyre actually flying about 500 feet above the ground. Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
https://go.usa.gov/xd84g Here is the preliminary NTSB report. There is some new info on the conversations with ATC just prior to the crash. It supports my initial theory on a IIMC event, we wont know for sure till the final report comes out. Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
It's pretty obvious what happenex and why, been known since the morning it happened. Pilot asked for permission to fly in precarious conditions. He was granted permission, either in recognition of his credentials or the stature of his occupants. Either way, he attempted to fly utilizing landmarks flying as low as possible using ground landmarks. He was too low for flight control to assist with radar and ultimately became disoriented, and in panic crashed into the mountainside trying to get either above or below the cloud/fog.
Its pretty common to get Special VFR permission. His credentials or passengers don't come in to play on that one. We do it fairly regularly when we reposition becuase of weather and the field goes IFR in the process. Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
