I fly WWII airplanes for 2 Doctors and they both told me the same thing. That it is hard to say no to someone Famous like Michael Jackson or Kobe. The pilot knew he would be flying in very marginal conditions and could not man up and say you should drive and not take the chance flying. He most likely would have been on Kobe's **** list for not getting them to the game on time.

Dr Conrad Murry would still be practicing Medicine if if he could have stood up to Michael Jackson but did not want to be ousted from the biggest Super Star in the world.

Good point and all true without a doubt. We have a member here, (who doesn’t really post anymore), who flies big shots and celebrities on private jets. I would think that the way to handle this touchy situation would be a very polite but firm discussion at the beginning of employment explaining that as a pilot or doctor, they will never compromise the safety and well being of *you*, the client/employer. It’s a lot easier to have this conversation in advance and at a non-stressed time, as opposed to when said primadona is throwing a schit fit and demanding that you fly NOW. It would also make it easier in that heated moment if you could remind them that they already agreed to these terms, preferably in writing as well as verbally.

Tough situation but if I’m the pilot, I’m not willing to die for some jerk. Not saying that Kobe was a jerk, just postulating in general. :)

A cousin of mine is a pilot/instructor. Many years ago casino owner Bill Harrah's people called him when Mr. Harrah's personal pilot was down sick. Asked if he would like to step in temporarily and make some really good money flying Mr. Harrah from A to B? My cousin declined saying the weather looked too iffy. When Harrah heard this he instructed someone to offer him the full time position as his pilot. He flew Harrah around for many years in Harrah's daddyo King Air with a very generous salary. Discretion truly paid off

Silicon Valley too ...

This is probably a dumb question, but with all the tech available, couldn’t a helicopter have an emergency button that when pressed takes over and does everything it can to stabilize and hover the helicopter ASAP?
Give a disoriented pilot time to reorient.

It is a good question that was answered earlier in this thread. :)

They aren't called PIC for nothing. "Pilot in command"! Tell the passenger to shut up and sit down!

Oh, and doctors make the worst pilots!

Agreed and it does not remove the pilot's and Dr. Murry's culpability one single bit.

I have been around enough "famous" people or at least powerful ones and to be honest, every time I have had a conversation with one I walk into the room presuming I am going to walk out without a job....and I am OK with that.

There is the normal considerations you give any senior person or person who employs you, but if at the end of the day if all you do is what you are told to do for money, then you are a prostitute and you may as well get used to being screwed in manners you may not want.

Probably no one knows in the Kobe case exactly what was said, but my bet is that there was no honest, adult conversation by either party...it was either glossed over as a "concern" or just not spoken about.

Sad, but if that is your approach when matters of your life or lives of others are at material risk, then you deserve what you get.

Dennis

In other news, the controllers are now being sued. I guess they were not helpful enough, though I don't see how flight following would have helped at all in this case.

https://www.flyingmag.com/story/news/bryant-helicopter-operator-sues-faa-atc/

Yeah, I saw that the other day. Hard to fathom...

Not really. The helicopter company is on the hook for 10's of millions of dollars and being sued by everyone involved, they are doing anything they can to deflect blame and try to save the company and their reputation.

Doesn't mean it will work, but they will grasp any straw they can going down.

OT, I know, but do the docs us WWII planes for transportation? DC3's? Or am I misreading that. Just curious!

(Secretly I just want to hear you know a doc who has you fly him in his B25 or his TP-51 just so he can do his rounds...)