Helicopter crashes on i10 bridge

Another big difference, it takes a lot more skill to get a pilots license... especially a helicopter license...any #### fool with a pulse can get a CDL anymore.

 

It's called "special VFR flying". And that's most likely what this pilot, and Kobe Bryant's pilot was flying under. Special VFR actually requires helicopter pilots to fly using mainly major roadways as a reference. The only major requirement is for the pilot to be able see the ground at the minimum en route altitude. Also pilots do preflight and post flight inspection, just like truckers (something the driver in CO didn't do). Pilots also have to show a proficiency in English, something the driver in CO didn't have. And lastly, if an aircraft isn't safe to fly, they don't fly it, just like truckers aren't supposed to drive an unsafe truck, something the guy in CO actually did. So to try and even draw a comparison between the driver in CO and this pilot is hogwash.

 

Yes. You can't compare green horn Cuban with skilled, instructor rated pilots with many flight hours under the belt. Both pilots fail to do preflight weather assessment which is mandatory part of the flight plan. Was his helicopter equipped with navigation instruments required for IFR, was heli equipped with deicing system powerful to fly in to fog? Lastly both pilots where "under pressure" one to deliver celebrity the second one to pick up passengers. They decide fly no matter what.

 

News story said pilot flew into powerlines. The area had thick fog.

 

He hit the power lines and ripped the top of the helicopter and blades off.

He had no control of the helicopter once he hit the power lines.

 

Why don’t we see what the investigation shows. Not new.

 

The first story that came out didn't have anything about the power lines. More details came out a few hours later.
There's a bridge just like that in Pensacola which is where I went through aircrew training.

 

You quote my last sentence but ignore the rest of the post where I talk about special VFR flying. Helicopters by design are not equipped with deicing gear unless it's a glycol spray for the windscreen. I know for a fact that Kobe's pilot got a weather briefing that morning as well as the night before. The NTSB said as much in their preliminary report. When they took off from SNA the ceiling was 2,000ft, 1,500ft broken (MEA is 1,000ft) with marine layer to clear inland. That's why his pilot didn't just fly up the coast to Calabasas, he flew inland and then turned N. As for the other pilot, the NTSB will have it's say in it's preliminary report. But I can guarantee you this. Neither of those pilots paid someone to give them a commercial helicopter license, unlike the guy in CO who not only paid for his CDL, but he KNEW his truck had faulty brakes and should have been OOS.

 

Failure to do a proper pretrip. He should have been up there thumping his blades, but was probably sitting in the ####pit watching his watch to see how much on-duty time to log instead.