Thanks, yes that’s exactly what I was referring to. It was 10:30PM local, and with the cloud shield of all the nearby thunderstorms, I’m guessing it was very dark. The forested area in which they went down would have been pretty much a black hole, especially in low visibility.
I know it would be extremely rare for an R66 to be equipped and approved for IFR operations, and I can see by the radar overlay posted above and descriptions of the conditions by witnesses that it's highly unlikely VFR conditions existed at the time of the crash. Draw your own conclusions.
How would Google know?
I asked Gemini (a Google product) "Are there any Robinson R66 helicopters certified for IFR flight?":
There were a number of single-engine IFR helicopters prior to the late 1990s, however, they changed the certification failure probabilities which made SE-IFR models not feasible after that. Around 2012, the industry petitioned the FAA to review those previous changes via their Safety Continuum policy, which resulted in a Policy Statement being issued in 2017 that provided an IFR certification path based on performance for SE helicopters. So with that policy statement it opened the door for a number of IFR capable or flight control system enhancements for existing aircraft like the Bell 407gx or Leo AW119.
Why would I need to draw any conclusions about a knowable fact, when I can just wait for the fact to be revealed? If the R66 is only certified for VFR flight, then we know it was a VFR flight, no opinions or conclusions necessary.
I was assuming you had the ability to discern the flight was conducted as though visual meteorological conditions were present, but instrument meteorological conditions existed at the time of the crash.
I found the same information you did, and thus made the statement an IFR R66 would be extremely rare. I didn't know if Skyryse actually had a flying example, so I hedged a bit. I figured the POA Pedantry Patrol might call me out if I stated unequivocally the animal didn't exist.
The constraint is regulatory and the baseline type certification of the r66.
"However, the pilot expressed confidence, opting to fly at a higher altitude, Dave's father, George, tells WSB. The National Transportation Safety Board says the helicopter struck tall trees before crashing in a wildlife management area. "
Not that I’m advocating flying in that weather, but it seems like an iPad with terrain alerting could have prevented this.
Robinsons may be decent helicopters, but not for weddings. Need eyebleach after that video.
A safety culture is an ongoing process until someone or something breaks the process. Perhaps this operator was very diligent until this pilot came along. Time will tell.
Or you can be good like the guy below. You'll note in the comments his luck didn't hold out. Regardless, I doubt an iPad would have helped given Part 135 helicopter ops require an operable radar altimeter to be installed.
R44
I feel like I just watched a guy playing Russian roulette for YouTube likes.
You got the Russian part right. As I understand he is a well-known Russian pilot who has set several FAI records and accomplished a few other record-breaking feats with Robbies.
According the the video description, Partial-Panel Pavel cashed in his chips a few years after the video by flying an R66 into IMC and losing control.
Or at least pencil whip currency.
We've had two airline captains (one UA, one AA) crash light planes (not homebuilts) doing dumbass things and it didn't affect their careers.
The type certificate says "day and night VFR operations" only. Just adding the 91.205(d) stuff doesn't overcome that limitation. Google R00015L for the TCDS.