Pete Barnes - The Helicopter Pilot

[unusedaccount]

Two things ran through my mind when I first heard about the Helicopter crash at Vauxhall. The fact that it was at Vauxhall, rang alarm bells for me... Vauxhall = SIS HQ = Possible Terrorist Attack? 0_0 Anyway, the second thing I said, and voiced was that he was probably using VFR rules (flying by eye, not instruments)... Which is stupid, reckless, and pathetic in such adverse weather conditions. He was an experienced pilot, and was probably too embarrassed to ask ATC for help. Then a week later, a press release confirmed what I thought, he was receiving weather updates from ATC, but he wasn't on a flight plan, and therefore was quite literally flying through freezing fog, by eye... I'm not saying he was a bad pilot, but for god sake, who flies through fog with less than a quarter mile visibility using their eyes?!?!?! His chopper was capable of doing IFR flights. May he rest in peace, but for other pilots out there, on here, and as a note to myself (I'm a Pilot), never fly in bad weather conditions no matter how experienced you are, without ATC guiding you!

[Gandalf]

Two things ran through my mind when I first heard about the Helicopter crash at Vauxhall. The fact that it was at Vauxhall, rang alarm bells for me... Vauxhall = SIS HQ = Possible Terrorist Attack? 0_0 Anyway, the second thing I said, and voiced was that he was probably using VFR rules (flying by eye, not instruments)... Which is stupid, reckless, and pathetic in such adverse weather conditions. He was an experienced pilot, and was probably too embarrassed to ask ATC for help. Then a week later, a press release confirmed what I thought, he was receiving weather updates from ATC, but he wasn't on a flight plan, and therefore was quite literally flying through freezing fog, by eye... I'm not saying he was a bad pilot, but for god sake, who flies through fog with less than a quarter mile visibility using their eyes?!?!?! His chopper was capable of doing IFR flights. May he rest in peace, but for other pilots out there, on here, and as a note to myself (I'm a Pilot), never fly in bad weather conditions no matter how experienced you are, without ATC guiding you!

London has very specific helicopter policies, with the poor weather he was probably (sorry to be pedantic) SVFR. Although...

The airspace he was in would mean he would have probably mandatory ATC coverage whether they were directing him or not, I'm not an expert but I'm guessing that if the cause of the accident was to be pilot error, he was spending too much time reading the instruments or something distracting him from actually looking outside, any number of things could have gone wrong and that isn't necessarily dependant on his flight status.

I have airspace charts for London, I'll grab them and see if they have any relevant info.

Of course, I am very sorry for this loss, I heard that Mr Barnes often piloted air ambulances so he put his skills to valuable use and hopefully that is something people will remember him for.

[Dooby the potato god]

Why was he flying low enough to hit a bloody crane anyway?

[unusedaccount]

London has very specific helicopter policies, with the poor weather he was probably (sorry to be pedantic) SVFR. Although...

The airspace he was in would mean he would have probably mandatory ATC coverage whether they were directing him or not, I'm not an expert but I'm guessing that if the cause of the accident was to be pilot error, he was spending too much time reading the instruments or something distracting him from actually looking outside, any number of things could have gone wrong and that isn't necessarily dependant on his flight status.

I have airspace charts for London, I'll grab them and see if they have any relevant info.

Of course, I am very sorry for this loss, I heard that Mr Barnes often piloted air ambulances so he put his skills to valuable use and hopefully that is something people will remember him for.

Nope, That's what I thought originally. But he was flying VFR, he wasn't being guided at all. A complete shambles... His craft was capable of doing fully guided IFR flights, his client even advised him not to make the trip, but he refused and carried on. He tried to divert to Battersea at the last minute, again, without any kind of guidance, causing him to hit that crane. At the very least, he should have had a flight following, with some sort of radar contact, at least then ATC would be been able to advise him of any NOTAMS in force at the time, and any proximity warnings... Such as an erected crane...

[unusedaccount]

Why was he flying low enough to hit a bloody crane anyway?

600 ft, give or take. Which is pretty high for a helicopter, especially in London airspace. VFR aircraft cannot exceed certain altitudes anyway, so he wouldn't have been able to fly very high, even if he wanted too. He should have been flying at at least 1200 ft, at least then, he would have been above the freezing fog, and would have been able to see to some extent. Of course, then again, if he's anywhere near City, the City flight path, the City pattern hold, or City approach, then he runs the risk of hitting a commercial plane. Shame choppers don't have TCAS... Not that it would do much good with 10 seconds notice. :P