58 Vol. 10 / No. 4 / April 2018 Global Aviator
Helicopter do's and don'ts
Despite how it often looks
at the time, few helicopter
accidents are the result of only
one factor. Many are said
afterwards to have happened
due to human error, pilot error,
or whatever term you prefer,
but they actually tend to occur
because a number of things
go awry at the same time.Poor weather, navigation
problems, fatigue, stress, distraction- all of these are contributory
factors in many rotary accidents.
Yet most helicopter pilots, if they
are honest, will admit to having flown
when tired or stressed, and have been
distracted by something or had the
weather start to close in on them. It's
normal, almost; it tends to happen to
everyone if they fly for long enough.
Generally it's not a major problem,
and indeed such things can often be
converted into learning experiences.
However, it is different when more
than one problem occurs at the same
time. For example, perhaps the weather
worsens, you decide to divert, and then
you realise the GPS is playing up. Maybe
a long flight has tired you; then you
suddenly have to cope with complicated
ATC instructions in crowded airspace.
It is the odds stacking up like
this which can lead to disaster. Some
years ago I wrote about a flight in
which, as a low hours helicopter pilot,
I attempted a long trip over unfamiliar
territory, through the airspace of a
major airport. On the flight home, with
a low sun in my eyes and complicated
departure instructions to follow, I
missed an instrument warning light
and was lucky to avoid an accident.
I called my article “The Holes in
the Cheese”, a reference to the well
known analogy of flying disasters
being like gruyere cheese in which
each hole represents a possible
problem; and it is when the holes
line up that an accident occurs.Another way of putting this is to say
that disasters happen when you become
mentally overloaded. Overload when
flying is difficult to deal with since, by
definition, there is no part of your brain
available to sit back and realise that you
simply can't take in any more. If you can
manage to see it coming it is sometimes
possible to take off the pressure –
perhaps by diverting, or giving control
to a co-pilot, or even landing ... it
depends on the circumstances. But if
you don't or can't do any of those things,
your mind can simply cease to take
something new on board – perhaps an
obstacle, or a radio call, or a warning
light as in the example mentioned
above. Indeed, someone speaking to
you in such a situation can simply beenough to push you over the edge –
and this is when accidents take place.
Of course, all these points apply
to any pilot of any flying machine. So
why mention helicopters in particular?
Well, I believe that this kind of accident
is more likely to affect helicopter pilots,
simply because of the nature of the
aircraft we fly and the prevailing rotary
aviation culture. Let me explain.
Firstly, let's look at where
accidents happen. A large proportion
are caused when flying low - by
CFIT, wire strikes, or colliding with
obstacles. Indeed, short of losing
control of the aircraft or having some
mechanical failure, there's not really
much which can go catastrophically
wrong at altitude – and if it does, you
have far more time to sort it out.
So low flying might well be seen
as a contributory factor, and, as a
general rule, helicopters fly lower
than fixed-wing aircraft. This is often
simply because they can! Helicopters
are easier to manoeuvre at low level
than their fixed-wing counterparts, so
we tend to use that facility frequently- we avoid bad weather by flying
round or underneath it rather than
'on top'. Perhaps we do this to the
extent that pilots even think it's a
necessary part of helicopter flying.
In an article I once read concerning
a group flight, the author recounted how
“with a cloud base of only 1,300 ft and
rising ground ahead, the helicopters
were soon struggling to find a clear
route, while the fixed-wings were able to
climb.” What ... the helicopters couldn't
climb? Since when are rotary machines
limited to staying below 3,000 feet?
Yet it must be admitted that is often an
assumption, or a habit, in rotary flying
circles, and many helicopter pilots will
stay low in difficult circumstances.
And at low level you have obstacles,
wires, less time to take action ... in
fact you could be unwittingly setting
yourself up for an overload situation.
Secondly, the legal weather minima
for helicopters is slightly different
in that at low levels there is no fixed
visibility limit. Now I think this is
reasonable, and I certainly wouldn't
want to change the rules! Yet ... does it
maybe cause some pilots to think they
can fly in exceedingly poor weather?
When working as an instructor, I recall
a low hours helicopter owner setting
off in his own aircraft in very limited
visibility, when three instructors told
him it would be a good idea to stay on
Accidents tend to happen when flying low - caused by flight into the terrain, wire strikes, or colliding
with obstacles - Pic: Benny Marty.Where accidents happen.
A large proportion are caused
when flying, low - by CFIT,
wire strikes, or colliding
with obstacles.