Wtf is this poker talk? By now there must be hundreds of pilots online saying how this is not the craziest thing given shitty weather.

If they were driving in a minivan it would be tragic but no one would be questioning the ATC/weather/astrological signs. NBC wouldn't be interviewing random driver x about driving in shitty conditions.

People don't realize how much effort and money is put into technology getting passengers from A to B on airline X. Something that never happens on small planes because it's holla dollars y'all.

There's a reason that you hear of Roy Halladay and others dying on planes and it's that Z axis.

BBC shows clip of LeBron James instead of Kobe Bryant on Ten O’Clock News report of his death

https://www.the-sun.com/news/313638/...-of-his-death/

It does seem like it shouldn't take all that much CPU/hard drive power/space to just have a 3d-matrix style interactive topographical map of the entire landscape region (the general LA area + surroundings, in this case, out to like fuelrange-radius of the helicopter), so that the computer "knows" the exact altitude of every square foot of the ground (and trees, building-tops, atennas, etc), literally everywhere for like 100+ miles in every direction, so if it noticed your altitude and attitude and speed trajectory was on path for danger, it could be like "WARNING: on course for impact in 10... 9... 8... 7... INCREASE ALTITUDE by 500 feet immediately, and VEER LEFT" and stuff like that.

Not necessarily giving it the ability to override pilot, wouldn't want it to botfart everyone to death by accident if it was thinking only 1 move ahead, and veered away from mild threat #1 only to veer itself into a scenario where it got into some un-veer-away-able non-mild threat #2 that it then crashed into (which a human pilot would be able to think two moves ahead to not make that mistake).

But, at least giving it the ability to make that audio warning of that sort, info style, would be good.

I know they have stuff somewhat similar to that already, but, pretty sure it's more of just an immediate sensor based warning of the aircraft detecting the distance between itself and the ground at a given moment. Which is different from what I'm talking about, of it having a true, utterly complete topographical map uploaded and constantly being interpreted in real time by an analyzer program where it would sense upcoming danger well ahead of time if you were going towards hilly area at high speed in fog at the wrong altitude, but your CURRENT altitude was fine, but not in where it saw you were headed. That type of thing (or other miscellaneous dangerous scenarios that are a little less obvious that something as simple as that crappy example I just gave, which I can't think of off the top of my head).

You aren't just doing one thing at a time with a helicopter. You basically have three different controls that you have to manage at the same time (cyclic, pedal, and collective). I'm sure it becomes second nature with experience, but having "flown" a helicopter one time, it takes skill. I'm guessing you mix up the controls a bit or delay in a reaction, it can be too late.

Well it's not even mixing them up - it's being above the ground in (presumable) blind conditions trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Low cloud is terrible for the recreational pilot.

And certain pilot forums - which I have no time right now to find - have almost certainly figured out the situation. Flyertalks?

I am really ****ing bummed out right now for some reason, way more then other celeb deaths and I am not even a huge basketball /Laker Kobe guy.

Sucks

ESPN reporting helicopter was in climbing left turn at 2,400 feet then it dove to the ground. Plane was going 184 mph and descending at 4,000 feet per minute when it crashed

Agreed on the bummed out nature. Haven't necessarily shed tears but in that stunned mode like I think most people are. Almost still questioning like did this really happen?

Only other athlete deaths that really messed me up were Adam Petty and Sean Taylor. This sucks

Btw, I wonder if the top end (top 1% or 2% or so) of most skillful helicopter pilots is going to be going through a dip phase around now, from Vietnam veteran helicopter pilots starting to retire right now, and the past few years.

I bet some of those Vietnam heli pilots have mad skills. Lots of crazy flying scenarios in tiny treelimb-overhang landing spots in mountainous foresty terrain with narrow ravines and canyons everywhere on a regular basis, under extreme pressure (under heavy fire and whatnot). And other just random exotic scenarios that wouldn't happen much in civilian flight training probably. So they would probably handle the once in a blue moon sick spots that arise in civilian flight better than most, I would think.

I don't think any of the more recent wars we got into had anywhere near as many tricky helicopter scenarios constantly happening in such volume on such a regular basis the way Vietnam did. So, once those guys phase out of civilian piloting, even if the general trend is maybe towards better pilots with better training over time, I wonder if on a graph, the top notch end of the bell curve will dip a bit for a little while when it comes to helicopter flight.

It would surprise me that a guy who is worth 700 million and is an avid helicopter user would have someone considered a recreational pilot flying them but who knows I'm sure itll come out completely. I dont have cable right now so I haven't been watching endless news coverage about it like I normally would.

Recreational is somewhat of a misnomer. It's more used for a pilot that doesn't have the hottest new gadgets to get him or her from A to B.

As indicated by the (very well edited) video before, he had no issues with weather as per ATC until he inexplicably hit the mountains as the flight path shows.

Controlled flight into terrain - which other sources already have alluded to as the cause - is code for 'the weather is shitty and we can't see these hills that we hit'.

What were they doing even flying below the height of the closest terrain in the flightpath in fog anyways.

Pretty shocked this had all day to gain momentum as a story and we're at 160 posts. 2+2 is dead as well.

Kobe lived a great life, and his kids will no doubt be rich and have anything they want-especially now, but that family will be broken for the rest of their childhood.

Yeah, 70+ yo people are notoriously elite at their jobs

The last ATC communication (I heard) has the pilot in vfr conditions - ie he is 1000 feet above the ground and could see the ground, and he could also see 3 miles in front of him.

Essentially he was using the highway to get from A to B, and it appears that along the way he hit weather and lost his visual reference to the ground - hitting a hill.

Disclaimer: I wasn't there and didn't see it happen - however, I've seen multiple similar air incidents. The chance it was mechanical is about 0.1%

In for the lol Vietnam

And that video seems super fake

Living in the pacific northwest I can't imagine not being able to effectively use your instruments

The majority of pilots out there don't have an instrument rating

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08K_aEajzNA

Original vid. The forestry/ag guys are pretty crazy

I have several friends that are pilots - one just got his float plane rating in British Columbia (the Pacific Northwest) and is nowhere near close or interested in getting an instrument rating

Since your talking about the pilot. It was also mentioned that he was instrument rated to fly in fog/clouds.

Replying to
@ChristinaKTLA
and
@KTLA
It has to be asked...and you Christina being a pilot, I know it must be on your mind. Did he not know about the thick fog in the area of his destination?
Christina Pascucci
@ChristinaKTLA
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1h
He did. He got permission to use special VFR flight rules to help him get around the fog. He was an excellent pilot according to friends. It’s too early to know if fog was the determining factor.

"Special VFR flight rules" isn't IFR

If fog was the factor is it same to assume none of them knew what was about to happen? I think it'd be a better way to go out than that actual fear setting in. My daughter is 1 month old and I can't imagine being in a situation knowing there is nothing I could do to protect her.