'03 Torrance chopper midair ruling

[Skidmarks]

Thought you all might find this interesting...

 

http://www.dailybreeze.com

 

-Tom

[Goldy]

Thought you all might find this interesting...

 

http://www.dailybreeze.com

 

-Tom

 

 

Locals know that they had a near miss in the exact same spot last year. Same situation, same blind spots, same deal. The one pilot (who's name is well known but I wont tell) said he looked out the window after just missing another helo and he was looking at the mark in the pavement where this earlier crash had occurred....

 

I love controllers...but, you have to question anything that doesnt sound right, and you can't just listen to controllers instructions, you have to listen to the frequency and envision where each threat is..its just the reality of flying. I had a controller clear a plane to depart just after he had cleared me to transition across the departure end of the runway...I reminded him nicely as the F/W was heading for me at 300AGL less than 1/4 mile out and climbing....anyone who flies in congested areas has stories.

 

Listen and fly safe !

 

Goldy

[Chopperjess]

Personally, I have had so many issues flying out of torrance (LOVE flying john wayne now).. we were taking off 11 right, turning left to the NE so it would cross 11 left. ATC cleared us to turn left, and me and my instructor looked over our shoulder to see if it was clear and there was a fixed wing, almost our altitude, taking off on 11 left ... If we had turned we would have collided with him. A couple seconds after the clearance we had an ATC come on the radio and yell "NEGATIVE NEGATIVE DO NOT TURN LEFT"

 

... bleh

[Goldy]

Personally, I have had so many issues flying out of torrance (LOVE flying john wayne now).. we were taking off 11 right, turning left to the NE so it would cross 11 left. ATC cleared us to turn left, and me and my instructor looked over our shoulder to see if it was clear and there was a fixed wing, almost our altitude, taking off on 11 left ... If we had turned we would have collided with him. A couple seconds after the clearance we had an ATC come on the radio and yell "NEGATIVE NEGATIVE DO NOT TURN LEFT"

 

... bleh

 

"you have to question anything that doesnt sound right, and you can't just listen to controllers instructions, you have to listen to the frequency"

 

Gee, who said that ?

[Chopperjess]

I learned my lesson at about 6 hours to not trust controllers all the time =p

[R22 Driver]

Flying both fixed wing and heli out of TOA, I've found the controllers to be very professional, which in my book means - follow procedures but flexible and exercise common sense, being situationally aware and preempting potential conflicts, judging pilot skills well , clear on the radio.

 

Definitely on par with, or better than many controllers I've been a client of in the US or elsewhere.

 

 

Ron

[HeloJunkie]

As I heard somewhere before - Controllers and pilots have one thing in common - If the pilot makes a mistake, the pilot dies and when a controller makes a mistake, the pilot dies.

 

As a 20+ year CFI/CFII, I cannot tell you how many times I have had to prevent a student from doing something stupid/deadly as a result of a controller request. Controllers are no less human than us "pilot error" pilots, so why is it so hard to believe "controller error". We just need to teach our students common sense and to question requests that do not sound sane. That is the reason that the PIC is the final authority as to the safety of the flight and not a controller.

 

Just my $.02

Edited May 9, 2008 by HeloJunkie

[Chopperjess]

As I heard somewhere before - Controllers and pilots have one thing in common - If the pilot makes a mistake, the pilot dies and when a controller makes a mistake, the pilot dies.

 

As a 20+ year CFI/CFII, I cannot tell you how many times I have had to prevent a student from doing something stupid/deadly as a result of a controller request. Controllers are no less human than us "pilot error" pilots, so why is it so hard to believe "controller error". We just need to teach our students common sense and to question requests that do not sound sane. That is the reason that the PIC if the final authority as to the safety of the flight and not a controller.

 

Just my $.02

 

 

100% agree. I feel fortunate to have had that idea drilled into my head when I started flying with my instructor.