Hapless Bills Fan Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 1 hour ago, sherpa said: I appreciate your comments, and mean no disdain. It is just very obvious that in reading your posts, you don't, or didn't, do this for a living. Your posts contain a lot of conjecture, if not guesses. Most are reasonable, but some are not. Regarding experience, which you bought up, I will not argue. I have flown small singles, have a double II, flown fighters from an aircraft carrier, a tour as a TopGun adversary, and airliners for over three decades. I don't want any more experience. Roger that. Actually I was coming back to tender a bit of an apology so I do appreciate your response. You kind of got my goat a little bit and I shouldn't have let it out to be got. I don't want to go into it but it's a bad day here due to some news that just dropped (involving a young man who died tragically last fall, not aviation related) and I'm rocky. Yeah, I'm conjecturing and guessing and I'm sure some are wrong (just not as wrong as a bunch of the stuff in the media or on some of the pilot boards!!). That is kind of what we do here! I've been a pilot for >20 years and used to fly all over the country. Unfortunately it's not a bit exaggerated how many friends or pilots I knew who have died, not in service or for a higher cause, just doing something that looked at from the outside, was somewhere between boundry-pushing and hella dumb. Some of them took my friends with them (and I'm still doing some angry in there I guess). Please don't think I believe I'm a smarter girl - I've done my flights where I thought I was making good, de-risking pilot decisions but in retrospect I was just lucky. Thank you for your service. I aviate near what used to be Mc-D/TWA central, why I know (or have known) pilots with similar backgrounds.
Dante Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 6 hours ago, sherpa said: This is what happens when people not familiar with the way these things work start judging them. Not you, but whoever posted what you referred to. Helicopters are a special sub set of aviation, and they frequently use ground reference for navigation. Special VFR is an alternative for them that allows them to fly as long as they stay clear of clouds and have a very low visibility requirement. They are so low that they rarely get into the regular system. I fact they rarely fly using IFR rules and clearances. Some never do for their entire helo career. Areas that have a high degree of helo traffic, for whatever reason, come up with their own procedures and agreements for these types of things, and helo corridors are built to facilitate it. New York and LA are two of the most obvious. These types of things involve police, sight-seeing, personal transport, power line inspection and a host of other things. Having this guy, who is under special VFR, and that never changes, navigate by using highways or other ground based points is not unusual for this area. What he should have done is land at Van Nuys and let them Uber it to the practice site. Good insight thanks!
Alphadawg7 Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 Man, gut wrenching...Vanessa Bryant just made her IG public and spoke out for the first time.... https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/vanessa-bryant-breaks-silence-husband-kobe-bryants-death-i-wish-they-were-here-us-forever-1274754?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR Breaking News_now_2020-01-29 17:21:14_kkilkenny&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_breakingnews 1
YoloinOhio Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 Kobe death is sad enough. Every time I see that little girl’s face though it’s
Virgil Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/abc-news-suspends-matt-gutman-for-inaccurately-reporting-all-four-of-kobe-bryants-children-were-on-helicopter/ar-BBZsVH0?li=BBnb7Kz I heard him say it live and he didn’t catch himself. 1
ExiledInIllinois Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 14 minutes ago, Virgil said: https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/abc-news-suspends-matt-gutman-for-inaccurately-reporting-all-four-of-kobe-bryants-children-were-on-helicopter/ar-BBZsVH0?li=BBnb7Kz I heard him say it live and he didn’t catch himself. Glad there are still people holding themselves accountable when they spread disinformation.
sherpa Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) As this investigation proceeds, watch for two things. First, nobody operates these type helos under FAA Part 135, (charters), with only one pilot. Second, watch for NTSB comments about the number of passengers. In addition, there is a disparity between what Kobe paid for this helicopter and the market value of similar make/model helos. That disparity usually means something. Edited January 30, 2020 by sherpa 2
Hapless Bills Fan Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 9 hours ago, YoloinOhio said: Kobe death is sad enough. Every time I see that little girl’s face though it’s I understand. Three little girls as I understand it, though.https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-27/kobe-bryant-helicopter-crash-victims That's one thing that bothers me about the coverage of the crash. Obviously, Kobe was a Star of Stars and his daughter known on social media. But there were three young girls on that chopper, both parents of one of them, and two other wives. 2
Hapless Bills Fan Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 Update from NTSB investigator. No new info really except timeline for NTSB preliminary (factual) report (10 days) https://deadline.com/2020/01/kobe-bryant-crash-1202843161/
bbb Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 9 hours ago, Virgil said: https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/abc-news-suspends-matt-gutman-for-inaccurately-reporting-all-four-of-kobe-bryants-children-were-on-helicopter/ar-BBZsVH0?li=BBnb7Kz I heard him say it live and he didn’t catch himself. I saw it live, and I actually rewound it and video'd it so I would know exactly what he said. But, you're saying that he said he caught himself? Where is he saying that?
Virgil Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 44 minutes ago, bbb said: I saw it live, and I actually rewound it and video'd it so I would know exactly what he said. But, you're saying that he said he caught himself? Where is he saying that? No, I’m saying he didn’t catch himself. The anchor he was talking to tried to help him out to clarify and he was just oblivious
bbb Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 8 minutes ago, Virgil said: No, I’m saying he didn’t catch himself. The anchor he was talking to tried to help him out to clarify and he was just oblivious I just watched my video and I had cut it off before the anchor talked again, and I don't remember what he said...........The reporter definitely didn't cut himself off, but he did say "all four children are believed to be onboard" - I guess if there's any wiggle room, it's the "believed" part - but you don't report that type of thing unless you know! 1
Mark Vader Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 On 1/27/2020 at 12:38 PM, Chef Jim said: And again so cute. 57 miles from Calabassas to Disneyland in an hour??? You've never been down here have you? Not that the traffic is great up there but I did get a ticket for doing 85 in a 65 (after hitting my brakes while doing 90) at 5pm on a FRIDAY on the 101 just north of SFO. And seeing I've lived in both SoCal and NorCal the Northerners win the annoying trophy...by far. Please do not lump me in with that crowd.
Augie Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 8 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said: I understand. Three little girls as I understand it, though.https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-27/kobe-bryant-helicopter-crash-victims That's one thing that bothers me about the coverage of the crash. Obviously, Kobe was a Star of Stars and his daughter known on social media. But there were three young girls on that chopper, both parents of one of them, and two other wives. Yep....”and 7 others” just does not feel adequate every time I hear it. I fully realize this story gets a fraction of the attention if not for a celebrity and his daughter on board, but those families are grieving at 100% the rate of the Bryants. It’s totally devastating for everyone involved. 2
Chef Jim Posted January 31, 2020 Posted January 31, 2020 6 hours ago, Mark Vader said: Please do not lump me in with that crowd. Oh hell no dude. 1
Chandler#81 Posted January 31, 2020 Posted January 31, 2020 For you ‘Chopper Heads’. A likely path and elevation of the flight. 1
Chandler#81 Posted January 31, 2020 Posted January 31, 2020 More on the crash from a professional pilot familiar with the area, terrain and NTSB/FAA regs.
Hapless Bills Fan Posted January 31, 2020 Posted January 31, 2020 On 1/30/2020 at 3:03 AM, sherpa said: As this investigation proceeds, watch for two things. First, nobody operates these type helos under FAA Part 135, (charters), with only one pilot. Second, watch for NTSB comments about the number of passengers. In addition, there is a disparity between what Kobe paid for this helicopter and the market value of similar make/model helos. That disparity usually means something. I understand what you're saying about Part 135 Ops. On the East coast, if one looks up S75 charters, all that I found specify IFR/VFR and 2 pilots. The PIC was the Chief Pilot for this Part 135 operator. In an interview with another pilot, Kurt Deetz, who said he was employed by the company and previously flew Kobe, he referenced "pilot" singular with regard to his flights. Evidently, this operator's Part 135 certificate did, in fact, allow them to operate Sikorsky S75 helicopters single pilot, but in VFR conditions only (although the craft was equipped, and the pilot rated, for instrument flight). The implication was that is common for helicopter operators in the LA area to operate VFR only. If correct, this is significant because the pilot lacks the option to legally enter the IFR system. I'm not sure how the number of passengers and price paid for the helicopter might be causal or contribute to the accident. It's certificated for 14 passengers so 8 should not represent an excessive load, even if the seating configuration was for 7. That would be illegal if so, but not unsafe especially since 3 of the pax were fit young teen girls. I guess if the configuration was 7 seats and the pilot loaded 8 pax, that might be taken by the FAA to show a pattern of "pushing legality", but it seems likely incidental to the accident. As we (sorry! got my t-shirt!) know, the sale price of an aircraft reflects the total time on the airframe, the time since overhaul on the engines, the avionics suite, and the fittings. Per report, this helicopter was used to transport the IL governor and was reportedly high end on fittings and avionics. It was reported to have flown 4000 hrs at the time of sale. The TBO (time between overhaul) on the Pratt and Whitney turbos is 4000 hrs. Thus it was likely sold at a low price because the engines needed overhaul; if they were properly overhauled after sale, Nothing to See Here in the price. If they weren't overhauled, something to see only if a mechanical failure is determined to have taken place - though again, that would be taken to show a pattern of "pushing it". If it lacked an autopilot, or if the autopilot was not in good repair, that could be contributory I guess.
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