Comment: Having read the article, I would just like to add some info and an opinion. The person who died in the crash, were the pilot and owner Mike Huttenlocker and a police inspector for the Dutch police. As a fellow aviator in the Caribbean, I should mention that there are three things wrong with this picture that unfortnately cost those two peoples lives. firstly, the operation of single engine helicopters over water at night is strictly prohibited. Secondly, The rotorcraft was not properly outfitted with the required equipment for over water operation, (mainly, all rotorcraft that are to operate over water for longer than 2 minutes are supposed to be equipped with floats (flotation devices that are to inflate just before or on impact on water.) And thirdly, Flight at night is prohibited, unless the pilot is what they call, Instrument Rated. It is this readers opinion, that even though it was a "Mercy Mission or Medevac" The pilot should have weighed his options abit more thoroughly. call it what you will, but it was either a touching humanitarian act or a total aeronautical irresponsability. |