I am really feeling bad for the family of the pilot in the helicopter tragedy

You have to wonder if he was forced to fly in those terrible conditions.

quote:

---

I am really feeling bad for the family of the pilot in the helicopter tragedy

---

Meh.. Maybe

Most people only care about Kobe and DGAF about the others on board.

Idk.

Flying at 200 mph with zero visibility in mountainous terrain and at an altitude below nearby peaks seems more negligent than accident.

quote:

---

Idk. Flying at 200 mph with zero visibility in mountainous terrain and at an altitude below nearby peaks seems more negligent than accident.

---

That's a quick take on how it may have happened. There may have been instrument failure, other equipment failure, mechanical problems, etc. totally out of the pilots range of control.

I lost a cousin in a copter crash in the early 80's who was a pilot on U.S. Army Huey's at the time. He had gone through a few tours in Nam landing in and taking off from hot landing zones and never got as much as a scratch.

He decided to try to make a career in the military and was on a training flight in Alaska when the accident happened.

The final report came out as mechanical failure when after refueling and climbing to their designated altitude, the tail rotor broke and hit the main rotor causing the bird to crash and burn. He and another crew member were killed and miraculously the 3rd crew member survived being thrown almost 200 ft. from the crash site.

It's too early to point fingers as to the reason the copter crashed.

I blame the earth.

Heard a helicopter instructor on tv yesterday and he had a unique perspective.

Said everytime there is a wreck the pilot always takes the blame and said that he’s flown A list celebrities for 30 years and 90% of the time when he tells them it’s not ok to fly they overrule him and tell him they don’t care and need to get there ASAP

Not saying this is this case and ultimately it’s the pilots decision, just saying I can see that scenario playing out in cases

I think about this every time I fly Jaxsyn and his teammates to tournaments in Cooperstown. Hopefully my pilot Rob (not his real name) never has to experience this.

quote:

---

Said everytime there is a wreck the pilot always takes the blame and said that he’s flown A list celebrities for 30 years and 90% of the time when he tells them it’s not ok to fly they overrule him and tell him they don’t care and need to get there ASAP

---

I have a cousin that was a charter pilot for a airline, and had a rich client that wanted to get somewhere. He saw a fault with the plane, and said they wouldn't go because it wasn't safe. He ended up getting fired by the airline. He filed a lawsuit with the airline, and won. I think they were forced to hire him back plus some money, but he didn't go back to work for them. So it does happen.

I was referring to the other posts comment about the flight instructor pilot.

quote:

---

You have to wonder if he was forced to fly in those terrible conditions.

---

Based on a story about a prank Kobe played on a coach once I’d say yes. He had the pilot turning off the engine mid flight among other things. He seemed to have no fear of flying in it which can be deadly when you lose respect for a machine.

quote:

---

Kobe used a chopper to play a trick on Pelinka, the LA Times reported in 2017. Bryant had the pilot do military maneuvers on the chopper with Pelinka on board, and even turn the engine off in midair. “My life was flashing before my eyes,” Pelinka told the newspaper. “I almost had a heart attack. Kobe’s just sitting there calm and collected.”

---