Texting

[skullcap]

If I am not mistaken they said he did NOT send or receive a text in the 11 minutes leading up to the accident.

 

The warning panel was on dim, I would speculate he switched it to dim as to not have the others on board get alarmed.

 

I am surprised you guys aren't talking about the bigger point the NTSB is trying to make of this accident, improper entry into autorotation buy first lowering the collective instead of pulling the cyclic aft. I believe they are calling for a change in the way pilots are trained to perform auto's.

 

They said that they went into a simulator and recreated the flight and if they lowered the collective before pulling back on the cyclic, a safe landing was not possible from that altitude, even though the aircraft was at cruise (500ft AGL?).

 

But hey, I'm "just an engineer".

 

Who knows with the light why it was dimmed, could be as you say or left that way from previous flight, but am sure he knew the predicament by then.

 

The autorotation as they describe and their fact finding in simulator have to dissagree with. The Astar when there is an reduction in nr the pilot can lower the collective and by use of the mixing unit and the direction of rotation of blades it pretty much sets itself up into an auto as the cyclic goes aft and the nose rises. If the simulator was not set up the same way then yes by lowering collective the aircraft would simply go down with low rotor rpm. In real life it becomes a no brainer to do a straight in auto... But have witnessed more than one pilot who when lowing the collective pushes the cyclic forward,,,,rotor rpm falls and life can get interesting fast. This is usually trained out of a pilot soon but with this guy who knows. Good on you for reading the report!

[Bif]

Is this not basically an automatic reaction to input aft cyclic in order to slow from cruise to your ~60MPH auto speed?

Who tries to carry out an auto at 110+MPH??

[skullcap]

Normally you are right but there are exceptions apparently. Anyone who has done a single auto in a 500D knows to do this RIGHT away.

[Batiskaf]

Paul I am with you on that one.

We all know pilots are multitaskers, yeah right, untill #### hits the fan. Pulots who text while flying are idiots.

accidents waiting to happen.

More technology is made available and more pilots want those toys. Call me old fashion but our job is about MINIMIZING RISK! anyone arguing with this should stop flying.

 

[chopterlol]

.

[hawthorn]

I agree with Batiskaf here. Our job as pilots is minimizing risk. Study and organize your maps beforehand. Study your CFS and write down important frequencies etc so you don't have to fumble with stuff in the cockpit in who knows what weather. Think about what you are about to do or are doing, and always have a plan B and C in mind. We only have so much ram upstairs so when our flying situation is going south due to a a nasty light or whatever, and we're already multitasking ie texting, I suspect our reactions will be less than stellar. Speaking from experience, some time ago I was trying to escape some rotton weather when a light came on and I responded incorrectly to it. I was concentrating so hard on flying in the crap my brain didn't sort out the correct response to a caution light. It was sobering for me cause I didn't think I was that much of a dumba$$ to brain freeze that bad. There's lots out there to make a bad day for us, so think of multitasking needlessly as multirisking.

[Bif]

"multirisking"

I like that

[skullcap]

http://www.verticalmag.com/news/article/23656

 

 

hmmm.

[whirlygig]

 

Good on you for reading the report!

 

I do what I can....

[lineworker]

Distraction during flight differs depending on the source, in my opinion.

 

For example;

 

Using an instrument you identify in your scan.

 

Entering co-ordinates, usually degrees (scan) minutes (scan), seconds (scan)

 

Using the radio and referencing a map (scan). Where the **** am I? (scan) I... wait (scan) there it is (scan).Holy, that's not Cranbrook at all.

 

 

Texting.

 

Did you train with your cell phone? Is it on the MEL? Did you include it in your flight plan?

 

Nope. When and where did you learn to use it? Are you new with your smart phone? Is it a blackberry with push buttons and did you spill coffee on it do you have to hit the n button 6 times before it works, or are you changing the battery or swapping the charger port for your car charger while flying and trying to suffocate your emotion about some personal issue that is springing up while in flight?

 

When you sit in a theater, it's rude to pull out your phone and text. When you are flying a patient, or doing... whatever you are doing in an aircraft in flight, unless you are at 30,000 feet with TCAS, in which case you aren't likely to be getting a text, it's rude and not professional. I'm not going to say safe, because I don't want to get into that.

 

Likely we have a learned behavior regarding texting. Someone else is driving or we are on the couch, or we are on foot, or at some opportune moment 85% of the time, and we can text back, with a smile and gleeful apprehension as to the pending reply. It's a mystery, how long will i have to wait. Think about it. You text in a helicopter? How do you get your reply? Are you going to hear the little noise or do you have it set on vibrate? Did it interrupt your scan? How involved are you?

 

And another thing, are you in a text argument? Because that is just attention consuming. Who gets into a sat phone text argument? Maybe you have a buddy who makes up Chuck Norrisisms and they are too funny to miss. I don't know. It's not an avionic tool in the air. It's unreliable. If you have an SOP and train and incorporate your phone into your MEL, disregard.

 

When you are flying, you can click a button to accept a call through the radio. The text feature is not something you're going to play with for a number, even a small number, of personal reasons. And all the while, you will scan.

 

If I get hit by a drone it's not gonna be on my cell phone.