Word: weatherized
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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When was the last time you shuffled off a commercial airliner and saw just one pilot in the cockpit? Probably never. Federal rules require two pilots for every airline flight, and all airliners must be equipped with GPS, weather-tracking and collision-avoidance systems. Airliners fly predetermined routes, usually on autopilot, and always land at airports. When the weather turns cloudy or the night turns dark, airline pilots have the training and equipment to fly using just their instruments. "You wouldn't get onto an airliner that can't fly through clouds," says Drew Ferguson, lead pilot for Metro Life...
Unlike airliners, medical helicopters are unstable aircraft that require constant input from the pilot. They often land in remote desert canyons, on freeways and in muddy farmers' fields, places without precise approach paths, powerful weather-tracking systems or even lights. "In a medical helicopter, you're basically an on-demand taxi," says Blumen, who recently completed a study of 264 medical-helicopter accidents stretching back...
These troubles are not new. The National Transportation Safety Board first investigated the medical-helicopter industry's crash epidemic in 1988. It found that low visibility, often caused by bad weather, accounted for 61% of all crashes. "Weather-related accidents are the most common and the most serious type of accident experienced by EMS helicopters," the report found, "and are also the most easily prevented...
...Even flying with two pilots, workload can be an issue," Pietro says before the flight. "If you're flying single-pilot in bad weather and you're trying to land on a highway, it gets real scary. There's just not enough hands to do all the work...
...seen a Bell 206. It's popular because it is a lightweight craft that's relatively inexpensive to fix and fuel. But many versions of the 206 don't have the space or the engine power to carry the safety equipment needed to fly at night or in bad weather. Flying an underpowered helicopter blind in foul weather is a common cause of fatal crashes, safety experts say. "There's nothing wrong with the Bell 206, but you have to recognize it's a small aircraft," says Vernon Albert, who founded 34 EMS flight programs, 15% of the nation...