OTORCRAFT PRO Safety Minute
By Mark C. W. Robinson of Revolution Aviation
CARELESS SELFIES! Hang on a sec… before I write this article, let me just answer this call, send this text, post an update, tweet where I’m going, and take a selfi e in front of this rad AW139 helicopter.
It was not that long ago that using a cell phone in the presence of others was considered extremely rude. Now, we use it to schedule our next meeting on the spot, deposit a check, take a picture, and even share data. As we all become more accustomed to this technology having a larger presence in our lives (whether good or bad), we must make sure to always keep safety as our fi rst priority.
Remember the scenario of “get-there- itis” in your CFI studies? Well, what about “get-it-now-itis”? Has today’s society created a cultural allowance that makes it acceptable to pull out our
cell phone in any situation and at any moment? Pilots do get some pretty cool shots, right? Here’s an example: a fl ight instructor I was acquainted with was using his cell phone while instructing a law enforcement offi cer. He was attempting to take a photo, send it as a text, and post it on his social media sites. A second later, his phone fl ew out of the left window, and dropped 500 feet down into the marshes below. Luckily, they weren’t fl ying over a crowded school, church or freeway! I was astonished that he was not disciplined for this incident or reported by the offi cer he was fl ying with. In addition, he proceeded to spend the whole night gloating about the story before heading out to attempt to retrieve the phone. That situation could have been a lot worse, should it have happened in a Robinson helicopter instead of an AStar.
The antidote for “get-it-now-itis” is “it can wait.” Would you rather send your love your last text in fl ight, or fi rst text after your fl ight? As fellow pilots, we must do our part to uphold a certain level of safety. If a pilot posts a careless selfi e online that you feel is unsafe, tell the local FSDO and show them the image. Do your part.
Federal Aviation Administration Monthly Accident & Incident Data for the Month of July 2014
WPR14GA281 – PRELIMINARY INJURIES: 1 MINOR
On July 3, 2014, at 1721 Pacifi c daylight time, an American Eurocopter AS350B3, N832PA, landed hard and rolled over 54 miles east of
Fallon, Nevada. The
pilot received minor injuries, and the helicopter was substantially damaged. The helicopter was registered to a private company, and operated by a commercial
operator as a public-use aircraft under an exclusive contract to the Bureau of Land Management under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 133. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a local fl ight plan had been fi led.
The operator reported that the pilot was positioning the helicopter with an external load into a mountain supply drop zone
located at an elevation of approximately 8,600 feet mean sea level (msl). As the helicopter approached the drop zone, and the load was about 10 feet above the ground, the helicopter’s nose yawed left and descended. The pilot set the load down, but the helicopter continued to rotate to the left. While rotating to the left, the helicopter descended, landed hard, and rolled over.
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