How come they don't have auto-pilot/RTH/obstacle avoidance for Helicopters

[brainhulk]

Like use sensors all around the chopper combined with gps or something

 

[KMFJD]

$?

 

[SKORPI0]

I wonder if the families for those who died could sue the company that owned this helicopter for not installing such a device.
BTW, the device was not mandatory.

Kobe Bryant Helicopter Didn’t Have Critical Warning System, Officials Say

The helicopter carrying the basketball star and eight others wasn’t equipped with a terrain awareness and warning system that could have provided critical information to the pilot about the mountainous area.

www.wsj.com

Industry officials have estimated the cost of retrofitting such a system—which in some cases can give pilots an audible warning 10 seconds or more before a potential collision with the ground—
at roughly $25,000 to $40,000.

SferiSense | Euroavionics GmbH

Terrain/Obstacle Collision Avoidance System SferiSense 500 is an active scanning laser radar for the detection of obstacles, such as cables and power lines or rising terrain in the helicopter’s fl ight path. SferiSense 500 is a member of the SferiSense obstacle warning and terrain collision...

www.euroavionics.com

 

[brainhulk]

I wonder if the families for those who died could sue the company that owned this helicopter for not installing such a device.
BTW, the device was not mandatory.

Kobe Bryant Helicopter Didn’t Have Critical Warning System, Officials Say

The helicopter carrying the basketball star and eight others wasn’t equipped with a terrain awareness and warning system that could have provided critical information to the pilot about the mountainous area.

www.wsj.com

SferiSense | Euroavionics GmbH

Terrain/Obstacle Collision Avoidance System SferiSense 500 is an active scanning laser radar for the detection of obstacles, such as cables and power lines or rising terrain in the helicopter’s fl ight path. SferiSense 500 is a member of the SferiSense obstacle warning and terrain collision...

www.euroavionics.com

Should be mandatory

 

[Muse]

On news I think last night (TV) they said those systems are available, and I think that there's been pressure to require them, but that that particular helicopter was not so equipped. The pilot and likely his passengers did not know that they were crashing into that mountain side at 175mph.

 

[SKORPI0]

They should have a automated device that puts the helicopter in "hover mode" if/when it detects a possible collision with a immovable object, like a mountain/tall building.
Don't they have this in those little drones/quad copters?.

 

[sdifox]

I wonder if the families for those who died could sue the company that owned this helicopter for not installing such a device.
BTW, the device was not mandatory.

Kobe Bryant Helicopter Didn’t Have Critical Warning System, Officials Say

The helicopter carrying the basketball star and eight others wasn’t equipped with a terrain awareness and warning system that could have provided critical information to the pilot about the mountainous area.

www.wsj.com

SferiSense | Euroavionics GmbH

Terrain/Obstacle Collision Avoidance System SferiSense 500 is an active scanning laser radar for the detection of obstacles, such as cables and power lines or rising terrain in the helicopter’s fl ight path. SferiSense 500 is a member of the SferiSense obstacle warning and terrain collision...

www.euroavionics.com

I thought it was Kobe's chopper?

 

[SKORPI0]

I thought it was Kobe's chopper?

Island Express Holding Corp. of Van Nuys own'ed and operated it, since Aug 2015. Kobe was just one of their regular clients, that Sikorsky S-76B N72EX was his favorite to use.

Government records show that Kobe Bryant's helicopter used to be owned by the state of Illinois

Bryant's helicopter was owned by an operator called Island Express Holding Corp., which purchased it from Illinois in 2015.

www.businessinsider.com

The Sikorsky S-76B was built to carry VIPs like Kobe Bryant. Here's what we know about the helicopter

The Sikorsky S-76B that crashed in Calabasas, California, killing Kobe Bryant and eight others, is a "workhorse" with a strong record of reliability, and it was outfitted to carry high rollers like the Los Angeles Lakers legend, aviation experts say.

www.cnn.com

 

[skyking]

When you're hand flying down by the ground in the clouds doing stupid shit, no nanny system is going to save your ass. If it could, it could also put you in the dirt with any malfunction.
I went out on a search and rescue back in the 90s for an A-6 Growler with such a system on board, it was the latest technology. They were 500 feet up doing 500 knots and then the electronics decided to go plow some dirt for a while. It was all over before the pilots could disengage the system.

 

[GobBluth]

How about we talk about the fact that the pilot flew VFR into IMC, which is the #1 killer of pilots world wide. Safety mechanisms only go so far, if your pilot is determined to fly into weather that he is either not equipped to handle or not adequately trained on (not saying that is the case), then you're in for a shitty flight.

 

[SKORPI0]

When you're hand flying down by the ground in the clouds doing stupid shit, no nanny system is going to save your ass. If it could, it could also put you in the dirt with any malfunction.
I went out on a search and rescue back in the 90s for an A-6 Growler with such a system on board, it was the latest technology. They were 500 feet up doing 500 knots and then the electronics decided to go plow some dirt for a while. It was all over before the pilots could disengage the system.

How about we talk about the fact that the pilot flew VFR into IMC, which is the #1 killer of pilots world wide. Safety mechanisms only go so far, if your pilot is determined to fly into weather that he is either not equipped to handle or not adequately trained on (not saying that is the case), then you're in for a shitty flight.

Why Can’t We Solve VFR Into IMC?

Continued VFR into IMC is the scourge of general aviation. Year after year, it is a leading cause of fatal accidents—almost four times deadlier than

www.flyingmag.com

So in the years since then (>20 years), no progress has been made to alert the pilot that they are about to collide with a mountain/building, in this case for helicopters. I'm not saying it would nanny them, but a least give them a clue of where they are in relationship to their surrounding, specially where visibility is very limited. What the point of having all this instruments in front of the pilot if it doesn't warn them, even if they are IFR rated. This is an unbelievable that it can still happen with all this technological progress in avionics we've had in last 20+ years.
---------------------------------------------------------
I've seen the loss of my Dads friends (2 pilots and 3 executives for a aircraft company) whose 2 engines aircraft plowed into a mountain in the mid. 70s, due to bad weather and limited visibility. Pilots had years of experience, both VFR and IFR. Another similar aircraft that was flying with them, pilot decided to take another route/land. Can't remember which since I was about 15 years old then. Witnesses nearby said that they heard a loud boom., in the heavy rain Joined the search party my Dad helped organized, needless to say their bodies where found in pieces and you could smell death everywhere. Their body or parts of it where in a sealed coffin. I've my own experience of near mishaps and still have nightmares about them.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

So in the years since then (>20 years), no progress has been made to alert the pilot that they are about to collide with a mountain/building, in this case for helicopters. I'm not saying it would nanny them, but a least give them a clue of where they are in relationship to their surrounding, specially where visibility is very limited. What the point of having all this instruments in front of the pilot if it doesn't warn them, even if they are IFR rated. This is an unbelievable that it can still happen with all this technological progress in avionics we've had in last 20+ years.

I mean, a MK1 eyeball tells you you're about to fly into a mountain. The key is to not fly into conditions that your MK1 eyeball cannot determine how far away a mountain is.

This wasn't some black ops team going in under cover of misty night to eliminate the bad guy, it was an expensive bus driver.

 

[SKORPI0]

Crash-warning device might not have saved Bryant helicopter

The helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant didn't have a recommended warning system to alert the pilot he was too close to land but it's not clear it would have averted the crash that killed nine as the aircraft plummeted toward a fog-shrouded hillside, federal regulators and experts said.

www.foxbusiness.com

FAA overruled safety system that 'could have helped' in Kobe Bryant helicopter crash

A terrain awareness and warning system "could have helped" before the helicopter crashed Sunday, a federal investigator said.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[skyking]

You're barking up the wrong tree. That helicopter went from being okay to crashed in about 15 seconds, there was no time for any "system" to warn him. His habit was to fly nape of the earth if needed. We already have ground proximity warning systems GPWS. We have enhanced ground proximity warning systems. People still crash planes with those units running.

 

[randay]

should have turned around. end of story.

 

[Amol S.]

This is why one should not fly on helicopters, use a plane. Planes are much safer, and must follow a specific regulatory aviation flight routes (unless in the case of an in-flight emergency).

I did some looking into this on google and internet and saw that air-traffic control should usually have systems at their end like "MSAW", "APW ", and "STCA". Were they not working at that time or something?

 

[skyking]

He was operating well below the altitude where ATC could help him. It was all on the pilot.

 

[brandonbull]

Island Express Holding Corp. of Van Nuys own'ed and operated it, since Aug 2015. Kobe was just one of their regular clients, that Sikorsky S-76B N72EX was his favorite to use.

Government records show that Kobe Bryant's helicopter used to be owned by the state of Illinois

Bryant's helicopter was owned by an operator called Island Express Holding Corp., which purchased it from Illinois in 2015.

www.businessinsider.com

The Sikorsky S-76B was built to carry VIPs like Kobe Bryant. Here's what we know about the helicopter

The Sikorsky S-76B that crashed in Calabasas, California, killing Kobe Bryant and eight others, is a "workhorse" with a strong record of reliability, and it was outfitted to carry high rollers like the Los Angeles Lakers legend, aviation experts say.

www.cnn.com

Island Express Holding Corp will be going out of business in the near future.

 

[randay]

Island Express Holding Corp will be going out of business in the near future.

yes, sometimes soon within the next million years.

 

[killster1]

oddly enough i took a helicopter ride a few hours after kobi crashed, i asked the pilot (who had done 3 iraq tours) how much the chopper cost. he said 3.5 million. So 25,000 to help protect the investment of 3.5 million.. i didnt notice a elevation sensor graph thing inside the helicopter i rode, but i did see the video of kobi's and it didnt look like 10 seconds ahead of time would have helped the pilot was gunning it and at a weird angle.

looks like kobi's chopper was 13 million$$ yikes.

Ok double edit, according to the article (which is hard to believe)) the heli cost .. In 2015, the helicopter was purchased from the state by a person named Jim Bagge, an executive at a company called Island Express Holding Corp., for $515,161.. 500k? jeez