BRYANT CRASH RAISES HELICOPTER EQUIPAGE QUESTIONS
Crashes that kill celebrities tend to be a catalyst for safety changes in aviation and the tragic crash of a Sikorsky S-76B that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others may follow that trend. The helicopter crashed north of Los Angeles while on a Special VFR transition of the busy airspace to Bryant’s basketball academy in Thousand Oaks in marginal VFR conditions due to fog. The mainstream media has focused on the foggy weather, the lack of IFR certification by the helicopter operator and pilot, the absence of flight data and cockpit voice recorders and whether TAWS should be required on commercial helicopters. Even without the recorders, the NTSB has issued a statement saying it will be able to determine a cause of the crash with the other evidence it has been able to gather. The NTSB is also likely to issue recommendations based on those findings.
GULFSTREAM G700 FLIES
Gulfstream flew its latest flagship, the G700, for the first time in mid February and is fast-tracking its certification with an expedited development program. The huge bizjet (110 feet nose to tail) seats up to 19 in as many as five cabin zones and will have a range of about 7500 nautical miles. It was announced at NBAA-BACE last October but by then all five flight test aircraft were well under construction. They were all finished by the February flight and the static load tests had been completed. The four flying aircraft will launch immediately into the certification program and Gulfstream is eyeing 2022 for deliveries. The Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General will audit FAA flight training requirements due to concerns raised in the fallout from the crashes of two Boeing 737 MAX airlines in 2018 and 2019. Various investigations have pointed to overreliance on automation by pilots and their apparent struggle to deal with malfunctions in the flight management and control systems. The audit will examine the FAA’s training standards and application of those standards with an emphasis on automation.
