
Breakdown of technical issues related to the crash of Kobe Bryant's helicopter - bsanr2
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/01/kobe-bryants-helicopter-likely-succumbed-to-common-danger.html
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bsanr2
An additional AskHN: Is there an issue with discussing Kobe Bryant's passing
on this forum, and if so, what might that be? HN discusses the recent passing
of non-tech individuals regularly. It would be understandable if users simply
didn't desire to participate in such a conversation; instead, it seems that
most attempts at submission are being flagged by a minority of users. In the
comments of one or two tangentially-related submissions, others have expressed
distress that they're unable to discuss this tragic event in a venue in which
they otherwise feel comfortable. That seems unfair.

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jascii
I have no knowledge about previous stories being flagged.

I do have experience in aviation safety and know the article linked to is
irresponsibly speculative. I also have first hand experience in unexpectedly
losing a loved one, and know how painful such baseless speculation can be.

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redis_mlc
I actually read the article and I'm a commercially-rated pilot with experience
in similar terrain and airspace.

First of all, most helicopters are not flown IFR. Following roads in bad
weather is common. But ... flying under 500' is not safe these days because of
wires, towers and heliostats.

The journalist is likely speculating on what the flight path was and the
weather conditions, but overall it feels pretty accurate.

That's why you don't fly in helicopters, and in bad weather. You fly scheduled
airlines, in good-enough weather.

Not that I care, but Kobe should have had better personal security advice.

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himinlomax
> That's why you don't fly in helicopters, and in bad weather. You fly
> scheduled airlines, in good-enough weather.

From what I gathered, said bad weather was extremely localized. Someone who
had just arrived at the location (by car) around the time of the accident
noted that the sky was clear just a few miles away.

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cjbprime
That doesn't sound right -- I mean, it might be true that there was a clear
spot nearby, but it's not a good summary of the weather that morning. It was a
blanket coastal fog that grounded the LAPD choppers and canceled many flights.
I live in San Diego, 120 miles away, and it was pure white fog outside my
bedroom window when I woke up too.

It was not in any sense a fair weather morning for flying.

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basicplus2
I beats me why all aircraft would not have forward downward facing radar to
give a readout of approaching terrain.

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o-__-o
Cost is a big factor. Costs to buy the avionics. Costs to get the avionics fit
into your probably already full instrument cluster. Costs to troubleshoot
during your annuals...

Then there’s the I don’t need it because I use foreflight. Or because they
regularly fly a jumbo jet that has TCAS already installed.

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chopin
TCAS doesn't help with terrain it's designed to avoid collisions with other
planes. GPWS or its equivalents does this.

