Loss of control and collision with water involving Bell UH-1H helicopter, VH-UVC

[CyclicH145]

https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/5779863/a ... -final.pdf

[Twistgrip]

That’s quite a frightening read.

[County]

What part is frightening the most ?? What happened yo the poor souls on board or the Loose nut between the cyclic and the collective ??
Helicopter should never have continued on from fuel stop.
Motel room for the night snd all souls on board would have arrived at Bankstown in time for lunch the next da.
This pilot is a stench on every professional pilot out there

[skypig]

So, apart from:
Taking unapproved, and potentially impairing medication.
Flying into forecast, and actual “severe turbulence”. (Prohibited by the RFM, as well as sanity)
Not having enough fuel.
Planning to, and continuing to fly after last light, into an area with no ground lighting, with no rating/training/ability, in an aircraft not equipped for night flying.
Killing his unsuspecting passengers.

What did the pilot do wrong?
Nothing!!

[County]

Skypig… you’ve summed up situation correctly.

[Rotorpilot]

This pilot is a stench on every professional pilot out there

Pot calling the kettle there fella.

[Yankee]

Published last light28 for the Anna Bay area, on the day of the accident was 1801, however the presence of cloud cover, dust and masking terrain to the west would have resulted in last light occurring earlier.
Additionally, although the moon was high on the horizon, with the lunar disc 52 per cent illuminated, any celestial lighting was likely obscured by the overcast conditions.

Data from a privately-owned weather station located about 4 km to the north-east of the accident site was provided to the ATSB. The data, which included ambient lighting levels, showed that by 1750, the ambient light had degraded to 19 lux29, reducing to 4 lux by 1800. By 1820, the available light had reduced to zero. By comparison, at 1700 the lux level was 2,055 while in full daylight, the lux levels were about 10,750.

Effectively this helicopter was in IFR conditions, over water, at night, in moderate turbulence, with a clearly inexperienced pilot in a helicopter without an autopilot…

This pilot hurt this industry.

[Hello Pilots]

Screw the industry.
He killed four people and affected numerous other people’s lives as a result of his extremely poor decision making.
The industry lives on......they don’t.
I’m sure the loved ones of those onboard will be devastated reading that report.

[dole time]

What happens if it's an hour earlier and the turbulence doesn't shred their semirigid aircraft to bits?.. carry on and have a flameout over paramatta?? I second the previous comment; trainwreck of a read for the unassociated, but utterly devastating for a family member. I hope they never see this.

If his normalized deviance was displaced this far then who knows what else he has been doing this whole time.

[av8r]

What happens if it's an hour earlier.. carry on and have a flameout over paramatta??

That's the weirdest part about this to me. It wouldn't have mattered if it was broad daylight and calm wind conditions, they would have never made it to Bankstown - the aircraft simply did not have enough fuel to reach the destination.

[Twistgrip]

Agree with Dole Time,
Makes you cringe as to what may have had transpired in the past. It’s clear from the facts in the report that this pilot was negligent, had no idea what he was getting himself and his innocent pax into let alone planning a flight of long distance and the thought process or lack of in planning such a trip. Unfortunately this accident will be a great CRM module of what not to do.

I feel for the families.

[godfather007]

Reckless...
Respect to the unsuspected and innocent passengers, family’s and friends involved for the aftermath.
As we can all only hope this sort of poor decision making will never happen again.
Our industry strives to avoid outcomes like this.

[Twistgrip]

Coroners final report handed down …..Another needless loss of life.

https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/courts-law/coroner-releases-ruling-over-fatal-anna-bay-chopper-crash-as-inquest-closes/news-story/88266c0c267eda52fd69736bfadec007?amp

[CyclicH145]

Actual report is attached

[Wannabe60Driver]

The one thing not mentioned is how many people knew he was regularly flying at night with no rating and no training. See something: say something.