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This looks safe, right?


Lindsey

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Thread title is sarcastic, for the record. Thoughts?

 

 

 

From the photo caption:

 

CAPTION CONTEST! This photo was taken last weekend looking down from the third floor of the Tye Creek Lodge when the helicopter was following the hwy down due to low cloud cover. Write a caption in the comments below; the person with the most 'likes' wins a 2012-13 lift ticket! Good luck!

 

420171_10151002119145598_1821137959_n.jpg

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Looks like they're practicing IFR to me. (I follow roads). Certainly looks like they're going to be in a bad spot if there's an engine failure unless it was going 90+ kts at that low of altitude and could use all that excess speed to flare. Slow and low only works for lowriders, not so good for helicopters.

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Looks like they're practicing IFR to me. (I follow roads). Certainly looks like they're going to be in a bad spot if there's an engine failure unless it was going 90+ kts at that low of altitude and could use all that excess speed to flair. Slow and low only works for lowriders, not so good for helicopters.

 

And if they are going 90+ knots, I sure hope there aren't any wires.

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I would considder making a left turn and stop at Tye Creek Lodge for lunch, maybe longer. It doen't look safe, but the picture looks cool.

 

Not a bad idea, and probably what I would have done with that nice big parking lot on the left there. Nah, we'll keep going in this 200ft clg and 1/4 vis in the mountains along the highway with numerous high tension power lines and random road sign towers strewn about. It's gotta clear up after this next left turn.

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This is a great example of poor ADM and no Risk Management along with loss of Situational Awareness at Level III and possibly even Level II.

 

Perceive, Process & Perform ---4gedaboudit!

 

Zippie, how does 90+kts and this altitude correlate for engine failure? Not H/V! Educate me please.

 

Lindsey, thanks for posting this for us where not to be in flight. Was this pic taken from another aircraft or the hillside?

 

Mike

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I saw that. Looking DWON from the 3rd story of the building. Now THAT is low.

 

It is possible the building is up on a hill, so the 3rd story is actually higher than a regular 3rd story, if that makes any sense. Regardless though, it's pretty obvious he's below 100' AGL.

 

And, credit goes to sbuzzkill for posting this on facebook first. All I did was copy/paste.

 

Here's my question: if you knew who the owner/operator was, would you report it, just based on this picture? To whom would you do so, and what would your reasoning be? It seems clear we all agree this is stupid and needlessly dangerous, so let's enhance the discussion even further.

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I might call the owner and discuss it (or would see if i know someone that knows the owner/operator better than i and ask their opinion).

 

I would certainly want to know if any of my helos were being operated unsafely. However it is hard to make judgements from photos .. i take a lot, over 150k at last count, and sometimes they look much more ominous than they really are. The depth perception can also be skewed and objects can look closer than they are to other objects in the photos.

 

We really don't know what is going on, it could be a very legitimate situation or someone just being stupid. I flew next to a wall of fog once here in Denver that was stationary and there was clear blue sky on our side of the fog. We landed down by the plant on the right of the photo, picked up an engineer, and worked the rest of the day. The fog was mostly stationary for at least 45 minutes.

 

Am i advocating this sort of flying? Probably not, but we just don't know from a photo what sort of flying it is...

 

jmho,

 

dp

 

fog.jpg

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I'm in agreement with you on this, dp. The most I would do is call the owner or email the picture. I was mainly curious to see how far people would take it. Pictures are hard to judge.

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I don't think that we should stand on high horses and call the Feds on each other arbitrarily or without good reason, however it is our responsibility as members and advocates of the industry to ensure a safe environment for everyone. It is important for us to communicate concerns about safety, even if there is actually nothing unsafe taking place.

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devil's advocate... the pilot/instructor lives up there or near there and knows the road like the back of his hand and is well aware of the lack of lines/signs and made a GREAT judgement call by flying it down the road out of the fog instead of into the side of a mountain in the fog because they were turned around/lost.

 

caption. "dammit you got us lost again!!!, gimme the freaking controls, i'll get us down from here..."

 

then thinks to himself; "I really gotta get hired outside of teaching somewhere..."

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We can say a lot about that picture, and Mike is probably correct about breakdown in ADM and risk management. But... Let's not forget how fast weather can change in the mountains. I have seen a clear day turn cloudy within a few minutes (too late to escape). My question is, what would you all do if you found yourself in this situation? What would you do if you were in a ship without an HSI?

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We can say a lot about that picture, and Mike is probably correct about breakdown in ADM and risk management. But... Let's not forget how fast weather can change in the mountains. I have seen a clear day turn cloudy within a few minutes (too late to escape). My question is, what would you all do if you found yourself in this situation? What would you do if you were in a ship without an HSI?

 

That's already been answered. Lunch at the lodge. If its a big system and going to be a while hot toddy at the lodge. If you really want to make it home just think about how good that hot toddy would taste and how a night at the lodge would be a nice break and watch the weather clear. That's been my experience anyway.

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