Quote:
Originally Posted by pmax
That's the part I don't understand ... why didn't the pilot just stop in midair and descend ?
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The pilot was most likely instrument rated but probably not current and proficient.
When you punch into the soup as the pilot most likely did, coming to a complete stop in the clouds and hovering down and out is not impossible but it’s just not the way commercial helicopter pilots are trained when inadvertently venturing into Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC).
If he was not instrument proficient at that moment, he’s relying on rusty skills or hoping he can either turn around back to where he came from or descend out of the bottom of the clouds (both risky options). If his skills are rusty while he’s in the clouds, it can get ugly very fast (he’s having a hard time keeping the aircraft straight and level) which is why there are reports of the aircraft diving out of the bottom of the clouds at high speed.
This, of course, is all speculation at this point.