IMHO By Bruce Landsberg
found that the pilot and his six passengers died after he decided “to continue flight under visual flight rules (VFR) into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), which resulted in the collision into terrain.” You can read more about this accident in the NTSB accident investigation report, but you
I Bruce Landsberg was
appointed vice chairman of the US National Transportation Safety Board in 2018. An Air Force veteran and ATP-rated fixed-wing pilot with more
than 7,000 flight hours, he is a recipient of the FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. Bruce has been active in
aviation safety for decades, including serving 22 years as president of the AOPA Foundation and Air Safety Institute.
really won’t find any new or surprising information there. The dangers of continuing VFR flight into IMC conditions, as well as strategies for preventing tragedies of this kind, have been out- lined for years. The NTSB has made long-standing recommendations to industry and the FAA that would prevent these types of accidents. Yet, we see the same types of events occur over and over and over. As Yogi Berra famously quipped, “It’s like déjà vu all over again!” However, we at the NTSB
feel no satisfaction about being proven right once again. Instead, the NTSB wants the FAA and operators to address the problem and end these types of accidents. Hawaii tour helicopters often have cameras outside the cockpit to provide souvenirs for cus-
tomers. While the accident helicopter unfortunately did not, videos from other tour aircraft in the area clearly tell the story—just look at the photo opposite. The accident pilot wasn’t the only one taking unacceptable risks that day. It’s obvious that complacency and normalization of deviance exist on the part of several tour companies’ management and pilots. The image from the video makes clear that what occurred on the day of the accident wasn’t
inadvertent flight into IMC but deliberate. The commercial incentive to push through the clouds and continue the tour seemed to have outweighed the pilot’s duty to conduct the flight safely. Most of the time, luck wins out and everyone survives, and so the practice continues. The harsh truth is that the absence of a crash, even for years, doesn’t necessarily mean that things were being done right. Those same risk factors will come together again for the next flight. The NTSB has asked for in-cockpit image recording for years. Modern technology makes this
inexpensive and serves two purposes: crash reconstruction and, more importantly, crash preven- tion. Videos like these can pave the way for better safety programs and prevent more unneces- sary deaths. Yet, I’m not confident that any tour company management saw these videos as an opportunity to step forward and make clear to pilots their commitment to risk management and safe operations. The pushback from pilots and companies about monitoring their own flight operations and taking nonpunitive corrective action is inexplicable to me, especially if the equip- ment is already installed.
Helicopters, especially small ones, are notoriously difficult to fly after visual reference is lost.
The so-called proficiency checks for emergency escape from inadvertent IMC are ineffective and likely provide a false sense of security. The videos show that the escape mechanism available to most helicopter pilots, the ability to land almost anywhere in deteriorating weather, is often not available in the Waimea Canyon and the northern part of Kauai. The terrain is rugged and covered with trees that make a successful landing improbable.
8 ROTOR JUNE 2022
IN MY HELICOPTER OPINION Another Avoidable Helicopter
Crash … Again We know how to prevent these types of accidents. So why aren’t we doing it?
T WAS WITH BOTH SADNESS AND DISAPPOINTMENT that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) had to investigate yet another sightseeing aircraft crash, this one in Kekaha, Hawaii, on the island of Kauai, that took place on Dec. 26, 2019. The investigation
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