It isn’t enough to simply check the METARS


and TAF. Will this ceiling allow me to maintain visual reference and safe distance from terrain and obstacles in the area? Will flat-light con- ditions prevent visual reference to the horizon, regardless of ceiling and visibility? Are there nontraditional information sources, like highway webcams, that might help fill in the space between observations? A pilot needs to consider all available infor-


mation, not just some numbers in a weather minimums table. IIMC is one of the top causes of fatal helicopter accidents. Spending an extra moment during preflight planning to avoid IIMC is worth it.


Learning to Say “Not Today”


Te best way to avoid any accident is to simply not fly. However, let’s address the


they were embracing, they wouldn’t be so eager to go in poor weather.


Filing IFR


Another option, and a highly underused one, is to just file and fly IFR in the first place. However, we know that many rotorcraft oper- ators don’t field IFR-certificated aircraft or retain IFR-rated pilots. Perhaps now is the time for operators and pilots to consider these upgrades that would dramatically enhance their operational capabilities.


IIMC Avoidance: In the Air You’ve done your route planning and risk assessment. You’ve decided that taking the flight is the safe, prudent, and legal course


in a particular airspace type. But how do I tell if I’m 2,000 ft. horizontally from a cloud? How much reaction time does half-a-mile (800 m) visibility really give me? At the direction of the HAI Board of Directors,


the HAI Training and Safety Working Groups have developed IIMC training resources for


the industry, including: ■ VFR/VMC best practices ■ Techniques for estimating distances from clouds and obstacles


■ Guidance for IIMC decision-making ■ Recommendations for IIMC prevention and


recovery training. Tese resources will be published soon;


watch ROTOR Daily for the announcement or visit rotor.org/safety. Here’s one IMC definition


elephant in the room: when we do the right thing and turn a flight down because we don’t believe we can safely complete it, there are often very real consequences. If the helicopter doesn’t fly, people wait longer for medical care, police ground units go unsupported, oil doesn’t flow, revenue is lost—the list goes on. While a pilot should not accept a flight in


poor conditions in order to avoid the negative consequences of a turndown, it is difficult to completely remove the pressure to fly, from both external sources and internal beliefs, which are often the greatest source of pressure. Management can help here with a clear message to pilots that not only is it OK to turn down a flight, but they MUST do so when conditions warrant it—they’re being paid to make smart aeronautical decisions. Routine use and sharing of FRAT, which provide pilots and management with a structured way to analyze and discuss flight risks, is another way to remove emotion from the decision to fly. To avoid undue pressure, let’s also educate


our customers and clients about what goes into the decision to turn down a flight because of weather. Many clients don’t understand the impact of weather on general aviation opera- tions, particularly at the lower altitudes that helicopters fly in. If they understood the risks


70 ROTOR MARCH 2021


Management can help with a clear message to pilots that not only is it OK to turn down a flight, but they MUST do so when conditions warrant it.


of action. Ten reality happens. Te ceiling and visibility


aren’t quite what you expected. But is the weather “bad” enough to change your plans? Tis fuzzy area (pun intended), where a pilot


still has some visual reference but isn’t in visual meteorological conditions (VMC), is where people can really get hurt. By the time they realize they can’t see enough to safely control the aircraft, their sense of spatial orientation is likely not aligned with reality—or gravity, for that matter. Tey’ve forced what they’re seeing to align with what they’re feeling, regardless of what the instruments indicate. Unless a smooth transition to instrument flight is made right at this moment, the outcome is unlikely to be good. Te key is to not let it get this “bad.”


Defining IMC


Te problem here is that “bad” is an unclear term, and allowing ourselves to continue into deteriorating weather without clear guidelines can have disastrous results. VFR define the distances from the clouds and flight visibility required to operate legally


that focuses on what matters: if you lack ANY of these— proper visibility, visual reference to the horizon, OR the ability to control the aircraft visually—you are in instrument meteo-


rological conditions.


Changing Your Flight Plan Pilots need strategies—developed ahead of time—for determining when it’s necessary to alter their flight plan. A technique to help pilots evaluate deteriorating flight conditions is the enroute decision point (EDP), where reaching preselected minimum altitudes or airspeeds triggers the need to make a decision. By requiring pilots to take alternative action


when they’ve had to descend or decelerate below predetermined altitudes and airspeeds, some of the burden of making that decision is removed from the pilot. In a sense, by com- mitting to an EDP, he or she has made the tough decision BEFORE taking off. Whatever the method for reaching the


decision, when we realize that our plans must change, we need to choose one of these


alternatives: ■ Turn around ■ Divert to better weather ■ Land & LIVE ■ Pick up an IFR clearance (if trained and equipped).


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