Erik

Pretty much everything in a nutshell from all the different sources I've read. Most notable to me in all the reports is/are the absence of distress calls. If 72EX had a mechanical problem that caused the left high speed descending turn then why, not once, did the pilot communicate a problem. I was raised and lived on the California coast and that terrain and those conditions are all too familiar. The marine layer is like different balls of density all stuck together in a rolling obscure fog or cloud. You can stand in this fog and watch your visibility increase and decrease as the moving obscurity is pushed around you. It's a very surreal experience even standing on the ground so at altitude with both movement, speed, and obstacles it's incredibly, no, impossibly dangerous. That's why every controller indicated as such along 72EX's route. It is more realistic that 72EX's pilot was already in IMC during his straight and level ascending flight then at some point disorientation and possible early on-set of vertigo set in and the loss of attitude and direction ensued. At that point the pilot became a passenger and along with the other souls on board perished, RIP. The danger associated with this type marine layer is that your mind plays tricks on you. You're so used to seeing the ground and objects that when you can't see anything and you've flown into IMC your mind still thinks it sees things that aren't really there. That's why Inadvertent IMC is so deadly. Identifying this condition and training for it is supposed to be what the pilots certify for but it just goes to show you how different and deadly training and proficiency really are. I still contend that if they had set down in Burbank or Glendale, hell landed anywhere it was a helicopter, and called for an Uber, Taxi, or car service that they'd all still be alive today and they still would have made their game on time. Humans, the strangest oddest most stupid smart animal of all the animals on Earth.

And now we know why they flew VFR and SVFR. Simply put the aircraft and pilot were rated for instruments but the company who owned the aircraft didn't have an IFR certificate and insurance to fly IFR flights. This type of certification only allowed the pilots working for Island Express to file VFR flight plans. This lowered the company's operating cost and insurance cost while allowing them to operate as 98% of all helo flight in SoCal can be performed VFR. Additionally the S-76B should have had two pilots. The aircraft was certified for a single pilot but never recommended for a single pilot especially in weather where the work load on the pilot increases exponentially. Believe it or not this appears to boil down to money, risk, and pilot error. Island Express should be IFR rated and should have not made the S-76B they flew single pilot electable but instead required two pilots. Kobe should have coughed up the extra money for the extra pilot, if he even knew that was an option or that he was risking his life flying single pilot in that aircraft, he may have thought that was business as usual. A second set of eyes in the left seat potentially may have provided the necessary feedback to cancel or discontinue the flight mid-journey at a bare minimum the second pilot would have reduced the workload for a pilot flying in sub optimal conditions. In the end they couldn't fly IFR because they couldn't file for it. This flight had all the cards stacked on the wrong side before it departed Orange County. The law suits are going to be horrendous and people and companies will be destroyed over this abundance of poor judgement. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/30/us/kobe-bryant-crash-flight-certification.html E

Unless you plan on holding for extended periods of time changing inflight without any previous planning is a pain in the butt. The pilot should have been a pro with that many hours so he would have pulled the route weather seen the marine layer and inversion and known he was in for a soupy ride at some point. He should have taken a few extra minutes prior to departure and filed an IFR starting from a way point in his route somewhere with a future departure time from that way point so his IFR didn't auto cancel. Then he could have departed John Wayne VFR and picked up the IFR in flight. There's a reason he didn't do it and we'll never know but he could have. He could have also taken a second pilot to help with all this along the way had he been prepared. His experience should have told him this and he shouldn't have been so eager to please the client that he ignored it all. What's the harm in saying the weather conditions are below anyone's ability to safely navigate we either take the time to do it right or we don't go at all. That was his call to make and he picked stunt pilot instead. I'm holding out hope there was something unforeseen to account for this, but with yesterday's reports the pilot broadcasted a condition report moments before the fatal crash that he was climbing for visibility it's looking less realistic.

Zoey is right about all of it but what isn't known is why the pilot who was instrument rated simply didn't file and fly and IFR flight plan. The pilot had to change his VFR flight to SVFR in Glendale where Burbank held 2EX outside their Class D for 15 minutes because of traffic/weather but that's a known because the NTSB can talk with the controller that put them in the hold. Once the SVFR was granted it was the pilot's responsibility to maintain constant visual with the ground at all times, the pilot failed to do so. In that helo the panel is large it's not designed for scudrunning which is how it was being used but I digress. If you follow the flight they had to fly north of Van Nuys to avoid the approach corridor then clear of Van Nuys the pilot requested the turn to the south to pick up the 101. He did that you can see the followed the 101 for a bit but once the helo got to Las Virgenes Road you'll see the pilot depart the 101 freeway and course change to the south. This was the moment the pilot was in over his head. The pilot should have swallowed his pride and turned back especially if he couldn't distinguish a road from a major freeway (freeways don't have signal lights should have been his first clue). The south departure off the 101 was the critical moment and where the pilot got lost. He assumed the freeway was in a direction that it wasn't and flew 2EX into a granite cloud with total loss of situational awareness. The hard turn and dive was to avoid a collision with the mountain but he was committed. All avoidable mistakes for the cost of some humble pie. He thought he was capable of more than he was and and all his training and flight hours were overruled by ego. I'm pissed that he could be so ignorant of reality (he could see he had severely obscured visibility well below SVFR minimums) and safer options were right at his finger tips (literally). Van Nuys two echo xray back with you.

Self imposed need to impress the client overshadowed the single pilot's judgement. Pilot Error Low ceiling, obscured weather, SPEED, cockpit management (aircraft got ahead of him), weight and balance, and sudden condition of terrain appears to be all mitigating factors all leading to the event. I do wonder after seeing the 24Radar ADS B data if either airspeed VNE, CG, or emergency maneuvers caused a retreating blade stall which caused the loss of control and subsequent violent impact. I do note that the debris appears scattered over a fairly large area as if the helo was either breaking up prior to impact or the impact was so violent it distributed the contents back into the air. Either way this was a preventable tragedy. Safety went out the window for bragging rights and bravado. They could have filed an IFR flight plan in route or before departure or simply stopped and grounded the aircraft when conditions first started to worsen say in Van Nuys before they flew into the more moist and certainly more obscure coastal conditions. Putting in at Van Nuys and getting an Uber would have saved the lives of so many and yeah maybe they'd have been a few minutes late but Kobe had a phone and he was Mamba Sports Center, everyone would have understood. Silly Bullshit AKA Pilot Error.

The audio is the best part, turn the sound on.

The #8221 question was answered in August of 2004. Please pick a new number.

Lofty goals for a country with much unrest and economic insecurity. A lion doesn't have to advertise it's a lion.

Thunder and Lighting over Tucson at DMAFB is always a good show (1, 2, or both days), followed by a boneyard tour and air and space museum visit makes for a good visit. It's April 24-25 this year. https://thunderandlightningoverarizona.com/

So let's put this into perspective. The Iran Nuclear Agreement was the love child of the UK, Russia, France, China, Germany, US, and the EU. The US unfroze $400,000,000.00 and the other nations combined unfroze $1,100,000,000.00 of Iran's assets. For perspective, the US unfroze 26% of Iran's assets held abroad on deposit with the US for weapons Iran wanted to purchase. Many other nations were punch drunk on the cheap oil from Iran and those countries held the lion's share of assets and debt but it's the US's portion that tipped the scales. This is the shit you get when your options are limited. Wonky lopsided deals and a couple pallets of cash. Yes it cost all of us to prevent a breakout of nuclear weapons in the Middle East. Iran was months from such a reality when the G5+1 stepped in. The resulting negotiation provided for a 15 year ban on nuclear grade material production, an almost total reduction of Iran's nuclear stockpile, destruction of all but a 10% of their centrifuges, and verification of compliance. The goal was to stop Iran and give the world 15 years to prepare and try to fix this fiasco before Tehran redesigned the landscape from Tel Aviv to the Arabian Sea. That deal has since been revoked by the US while the other signatory nations try to keep it in place but their efforts are failing. Back in May of 2019 Trump imploded the Iran Nuclear Agreement. By the end of June Iran made notification it was no longer in compliance and was stockpiling nuclear grade material. The world estimated, back in July of 2019, that Iran could once again be breaking out with nuclear weapons within 6 months. That time is now. What President Trump did was remove the uncertainty of the Iran Nuclear Agreement for the certainty that Iran will breakout as the next nuclear state in the very near future. President Trump promised he was going to negotiate a deal, a much better deal the other nations will be happy with. I'm 100% confident that the way to this new deal did not include assassinating Soleimani. Trump has officially given us a double shit sandwich with no bread dilemma and I'm concerned this posturing by US officials and executives will put millions of lives at risk the moment Iran has had enough.

It's all part of the same Iran Agreement and was what the US had seized from Iran of the 150B in assets back in the 70's. The 400M was Iran's money to begin with and these were all terms set forth by the agreement. I quote from the article you shared, "The $400 million was Iran's to start with, placed into a US-based trust fund to support American military equipment purchases in the 1970s. When the Shah was ousted by a 1979 popular uprising that led to the creation of the Islamic Republic, the US froze the trust fund. Iran has been fighting for a return of the funds through international courts since 1981." Cash, wire transfer, travelers checks, gift cards, gold, digital currency it really doesn't matter, what people complain about is that the treaty partners gave the money back at all.

The flight of Ukraine Airlines PS752 and it's subsequent downing by Iran's Military is not unfortunate or an accident. An accident would occur if something unexpected resulted from an action. Example: Iran fired a SAM at a military aircraft and it hit a civilian one by accident. In this case they fired that weapon at an aircraft and hit said aircraft. The system did what it was designed (in it's limited capacity it has) to do exactly what it was tasked to do. Was it an accident the civilian aircraft weren't grounded, maybe but I think it's more irresponsible mistake than accident. As for the unfortunate part, the only thing unfortunate in the downing of PS752 is that Iran made an unfortunate denial of the events they soon after had to admit to. Iran acted irresponsibly and here's why. Iran did not act to preserve civilian life during a military strike or planned heightened defenses. Iran knew it was going to take military action, the world knew it. Iran conducted a military strike at the U.S. that was not answered with a counter strike, that is good fortune. Iran fired a SAM and it worked as intended, more good fortune. Iran knew when and what they were doing at the time of the strike. Iran knew they were going to heighten their defensive posture in preparation for a counter strike. Iran knew where the ballistic research facility was located and its proximity to Iran's international airport. Iran knew they were going to protect that facility (they put SAMs there) during such a time as this. Iran knew civilian aircraft frequently traveled the airspace above or near this protected facility as part of their normal flight path on departure (Standard Instrument Departure). Iran did not immediately ground civilian aircraft moments after the Iranian strike began. Iran allowed this aircraft to depart and did nothing to prevent it. Iran did not coordination with air traffic controllers to keep civilian aircraft away from this government installation, either in foresight or hindsight. Iran and the air traffic controllers flew this aircraft into or allowed it to traverse known protected airspace. Iran caused the loss of the passengers, the crew, and the aircraft. Ukrainian Airlines knew the hostility was going on and they allowed this aircraft to depart without grounding it. It's human nature to want to sympathize and understand the "fog of war", "young inexperienced soldier", "heightened intentions", "shit happens", etc., but those are spins of the truth. The truth is Iran took military action which resulted in the direct loss of civilian life and Ukrainian Airlines didn't protect its passengers or equipment. It was wise Iran owned up to their actions and inaction but that does not excuse them. We are all flawed human beings. This was a mistake, Iran wishes they had a do-over, and it is tragic but let's not diminish the lives of those who were lost by explaining it away. May peace come to the families affected and may they find closure with their loss of their loved ones.

No disrespect Hen, but that's just a bad talking point with extorted facts. I no longer support any politician foreign or domestic so this isn't about party. Obama had issues with that deal namely he didn't run it through our congress as he claimed it wasn't a treaty so congress had no jurisdiction and wasn't involved. That pissed off a lot of people who thought they should be the final voice on the agreement. The Iranian nuclear agreement included China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union, so Obama didn’t carry out any part of it on his own. The deal did lift some sanctions on Iran, which when lifted also lifted the freeze on Iran’s assets that were held largely in foreign, not U.S., banks. And, to be clear, the money that was unfrozen belonged to Iran. It had only been made inaccessible by sanctions aimed at crippling the country’s nuclear program. Secondly, $150 billion is what is being echoed from this administration and that is a high-end estimate of the total that was freed up after some sanctions were lifted. U.S. Treasury Department estimates put the number at about $50 billion in “usable liquid assets,” according to 2015 testimony from Adam Szubin, acting under secretary of treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence. So again no Obama money, only money that belonged to Iran and mostly held outside the United States.

This is inflammatory at best and not accurate. The CIA and MI6 orchestrated a coup against Mosaddegh’s government because of the failing economics of the country where both the US and UK were dependent on Iranian oil. They saw and opportunity to collapse a corrupt regime and replace it but it didn't have the effect the US and UK wanted. It's been a cluster f*ck ever since the US and UK got involved to protect our interests in the region for fear we might be replaced with Russian interests. To try and pin this on UK is a fearful retelling of history. It wasn't the US's brightest moment and we should own it. Our foreign policy since the late 70s and possibly before that has been utter shit but never as disgraceful as it is today.

Look at that stat for 2067 ... 100-300 increased days of extreme fire danger. That's almost an entire early cycle. If we don't clean up the oceans and get this carbon back in the ground we're in for a Vegemite valley root from mother nature herself.

No need to differ with me. I was asking a question because I wanted to know what blame was getting shifted and to whom. I wasn't making a statement because I've got no knowledge to base one on. Seems like a few people sucking off the people's tit got caught sleeping on the job and if the PM can't own his part and take responsibility for it then he's a worthless wanker anyway and needs to go.

I understood what you said. The use of the dot dot dot stands to say that I interrupted your thought and you had more to say on the subject. Everyone can read clearly what you said they only need to scroll up and read it. I in no way was trying to misrepresent anything. I did however want to squash the notion that we are helpless and nip it in the bud. That was my reason for dot dot dotting your earlier reply.

Global warming is not inevitable as in the future, it is here today in the here and now. We aren't helpless, that's what the climate deniers want everyone to be. They keep people uninformed, misinformed, paralyzed in dilemma, and ultimately helpless; all so they can continue to make money off of dirty carbon polluting energy. There will come a day when we as humans will understand that survival of our species depends on change. When this all comes close enough to home that it affects our daughters and sons, we'll be wind farming fools almost overnight. Humans are the only species so selfish and depraved to not comprehend a threat until it's cutting off their oxygen and staring them in the face. I pray for us all.

Let's be clear. The PM is not to blame for the fire, the emergency funding that could have lessened the damage, poor management, or going on holiday? Afforestation is the planting of new trees that were not harvested or lost. California is reforesting and will be for hundreds of years before it can ever think of afforestation. California is a good example how fires jump fire breaks often as if they're non-existent. The only real way to help prevent forest fires is to remove the fuel in a continuous cycle of controlled burns before the fuel is ignited by weather or accidentally. I don't see what was said as a personal attack so much that it was an attack of the policy. I can see how you might feel personally attacked but I'm almost certain it wasn't meant that way. I'll differ to the author for further clarification.

This was one of the more impactful photos I've seen over the past few days. It is solemn and quiet with a still action background giving way to the soft flutter of the proud Australian Flag. Says it all without saying a word. Thought I'd share. I feel for you Aussies because this wasn't only avoidable in the mass scale like it is today but everyone knew the fire load was high months in advance and did nothing. Our lovely politicians once told the residents of a certain state they needed to go out in the forest and rake up the dead brush and leaves to prevent the fires. Keep in mind 80% of that forest is National Forest belonging to the Federal Government. It's total absurdity in all forms. Climate change has a name, it is real, it is here today, and it is making a devastating impact already. Imagine when our blue ball get another degree or two hotter and we can't sustain the food supply. Shits about to get real folks.

I've been looking at photos and videos all day and it's heartbreaking to see the wildlife being impacted and the devastation to the vegetation. Sadly we also know what comes after the fires burn out, rain. Rain that causes flooding and land slides so this isn't over not by a long shot. Those Aussies are a hardy bunch but I pray for each and every one of them. This is going to impact people directly and indirectly for years to come.

My 2020 wish for each of you; May you and your families be healthy and prosperous in the new year. May we all have the wisdom and fortitude to be the change our world needs to end suffering and combat pollution in all forms. May we all open our hearts and minds to treat one another with the love, respect, and kindness we all deserve. May we all find a 20 year old bottle of Scotch we tucked away and some great friends to share it with. Happy New Year!

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Looks like you both had fun ... but who bought the beers?