Interesting aviation safety facts...

[Flyboy]

Interesting article based on the Bryant S76 loss....

https://www.avweb.com/multimedia/vot...ryant+Accident

[justjoe]

Interesting indeed. I wonder what this does to the part 135 operations industry if California does pass a law requiring some sort of equivalent level of safety.

[955i]

If California "passes a law" it won't mean anything except lawsuits. The Feds strictly enforce their jurisdiction in this area. The so-called "California Standards" for vehicles were passed and came into effect with a DOT that was willing to look the other way. Once established, it was hard to go back. The FAA will not be so willing to look the other way.

[wildbears]

I sat on a hospital trauma committee for many years in the 80's and 90's.

At just about every meeting, the life flight helicopter pilot would stress safety for his crew was paramount and the various conditions that could prevent take off.

No crashes during that period.

[802Mike]

I seem to recall some helicopter crashes in Hawaii in recent years.
Don't think he included them....
Is that not part of the US?

[wildbears]

Two very recent crashes both with fatalities.

[955i]

Flyboy, you and some others on here have way more hours than do I. But this Paul Bertorelli guy I find obnoxious. Certainly, he can bring out the facts and figures, but you get his bias in the first minute when he says Part 135 is half-way between the button-downed Part 121 and the "wild west of Part 91."

The way airplanes are used is way different in G.A. than in the airlines. Heck, even the airports themselves are far different.

The reason helicopters under 135 can operate in worse weather than 121 is in part because the helicopter can come to a complete stop and land in an open area if the weather totally closes down. I have some passenger hours in Alaska and off-shore helicopters. Some of it was exciting, but to prohibit it is (in my opinion) stupid. And having a crash recorder in helicopters and GA aircraft won't tell us much more than what we already know. In the Bryant crash, we can pretty well be sure that it was spatial disorientation that caused it. Unless a rotor is found a half a mile from the crash, I'll stay with that opinion. Likewise, TAWS telling Bryant's pilot not to crash into the mountainside would not have prevented the crash, but been some extra noise for a few seconds before everything went silent.

Thanks for posting the link, though, Flyboy. Forgive my reaction. It seems GA is always under the gun. Hell, a couple of the scheduled sight seeing flights crashed in the Grand Canyon happened, and what did they do? Restricted airspace over the entire Canyon to private pilots, but allowed the profit seeking tourist flights to continue. Gee.