Helicopter Stall

[PeteMc]

Considering none of the pax survived....  How do we know it was Kobe Bryant's "...persistence to continue..." and not some other factor or person?? 

Not jumping on the pilot here, just noting that NONE of us know exactly what happened unless there is a recording or some other actual proof.  And if they determine it probably was pilot error, sorry, you can't put that ALL on KB.  To my knowledge he is not a pilot and was not PIC or in control of that helicopter.  KB may or may not have been putting pressure on the pilot, but that doesn't mean they should have taken off, let alone kept going.

 

 

[Hank]

1 hour ago, 201er said:

Just learned the probable cause from the NTSB about the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash: the basketball player’s persistence to continue a flight into deteriorating weather conditions was the main cause of the accident. Contributing factors include having too much fame, money, and ambition. No flight plan was filed. And the pilot had spatial disorientation. Not that we didn’t know all this a year ago.

I sense either a poor attempt at humor, or a grudge against the deceased Kobe Bryant. This is what I've read in two different articles from different sources:

The helicopter crash that left Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others dead was likely caused by the pilot’s "spatial disorientation," National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials said Tuesday. . . .

An NTSB official said there was likely added self-pressure on the pilot to complete the trip despite the weather conditions, due to his relationship with the client. But the agency concluded that there was no added outside pressure on the pilot to make the trip.

"The pilot took pride in these positions with both the client and Island Express. They had a good relationship with the client and likely did not want to disappoint them by not completing the flight. This self-induced pressure can adversely affect pilot decision-making and judgment," the NTSB official said.

This was followed by a discussion about ATC asking the pilot to ident, what this means, where the button is located and a badly-misspelled discussion of somatogravic illusions. One reporter could not even spell "descent," using "dissent" instead. My understanding is that the helicopter's altitude decreased [a descent], rather than disagreeing with a preferred course of action [dissent]. But what do I know?

[carusoam]

There are certain flights where video gets posted on the internet...

You just know the risk has gone way too high....

You also know the PIC has a lot going on...

While Kobe’s flight was turning in circles over somebody’s neighborhood, somebody caught it on video.... and posted it...

It is sad for the loss of life...

 

It is a strong reminder... to have the right tools, training, and recency...

At least one of the three was missing in this case... and the PIC knew what it was...

 

So...

if you are to take a rental Mooney down the beach at 20’ off the water... expect video to be taken and shared...

Expect People won’t be very nice when they discuss what you did wrong...

 

If thinking you will get away with something like this... only once... all it takes is a blade hitting something to turn disastrous... a wire, a wave, a rock wall... or a whole mountain...

Some risks are just too big...

Save yourself...

PP thoughts only, not therapist...

 

Best regards,

-a-

[MooneyMitch]

https://www.avweb.com/multimedia/how-a-split-second-wrong-decision-caused-the-kobe-bryant-fatal-crash/

A video from the always logical Paul Bertorelli.

[Andy95W]

1 hour ago, MooneyMitch said:

https://www.avweb.com/multimedia/how-a-split-second-wrong-decision-caused-the-kobe-bryant-fatal-crash/

A video from the always logical Paul Bertorelli.

The thing that struck me the most was a term I’d never heard in over 30 years of flying: S.L.O.J.- Sudden Loss of Judgement.

It explains how a good pilot, with good judgement, faced with slowly deteriorating conditions, suddenly loses that good judgement.

And the scary thing is that we’ve probably all been close to that point at some time or another.  Things are great and under control until suddenly they’re not.  It explains how good pilots can stall/spin turning base to final, mis-read their instruments and land at the wrong airport, or lose situational awareness when suddenly IMC like the Kobe Bryant crash.  That pilot was a Check Airman and Chief Pilot and had a ton of experience.  Sobering truth for all of us.

[EricJ]

37 minutes ago, Andy95W said:

The thing that struck me the most was a term I’d never heard in over 30 years of flying: S.L.O.J.- Sudden Loss of Judgement.

It explains how a good pilot, with good judgement, faced with slowly deteriorating conditions, suddenly loses that good judgement.

And the scary thing is that we’ve probably all been close to that point at some time or another.  Things are great and under control until suddenly they’re not.  It explains how good pilots can stall/spin turning base to final, mis-read their instruments and land at the wrong airport, or lose situational awareness when suddenly IMC like the Kobe Bryant crash.  That pilot was a Check Airman and Chief Pilot and had a ton of experience.  Sobering truth for all of us.

In racing we call it "brain fade".    It is a recognizable term compared to "brake fade" which is where braking performance is lost due to overheating the brake pad or liner compound...you pretty much completely lose any braking friction.   So "brain fade" is a significant loss of performance due to wetware failure.

 

[bradp]

On 1/28/2020 at 1:08 PM, jetdriven said:

What happens to a helicopter when you raise the nose 25-30 degrees and enter a steep turning  climb? From watching the Red Bull airshow i would think it would behave like an airplane, lose forward speed and then enter a steep turning spiral.  

Byron take a look at avwebs edit of the ntsb hearing - they detail proprioceptive illusions as applied to helicopter ops and detail the left 1g spiral as similar to that which occurs in fixed wing.  
 

https://youtu.be/0MbBmJ-X66c