Pattern-blinking LEDs couldn't have hurt, but there are so many factors....
Some things:
The CRJ was approaching from the left and in a helo, unlike a fixed wing where the pilot always sits in the left seat, the HAC (Navy for Helicopter Aircraft Commander), may and often does sit in the right seat. You can sit in either right or left seat,…
Pattern-blinking LEDs couldn't have hurt, but there are so many factors....
Some things:
The CRJ was approaching from the left and in a helo, unlike a fixed wing where the pilot always sits in the left seat, the HAC (Navy for Helicopter Aircraft Commander), may and often does sit in the right seat. You can sit in either right or left seat, doesn't matter. But if the HAC was in the right seat he could not have seen the left-on-coming CRJ, and the H2P (co-pilot) in the left seat probably couldn't either because of the UH60's poor pilot lateral visibility. This helo's crew normally comprises two pilots and two crew chiefs. The crew chiefs' job is to look out for traffic and other things from the side.
When there is only one crew chief available, he usually sits on the right side.
Then there is the night vision goggle situation. Helo pilots normally fly night with NVGs. Those are useful but looking through them is like looking through a toilet paper tube. Plus you have them an inch or two from your eyes so you can glance down at the instrument panel. And we don't know if the pilots were using the old green phosphor or new white phosphor NVGs. Probably doesn't make a difference, but maybe.
The only way to see your 90 degree with NVGs is to perform a slow -- to avoid spatial disorientation, which is a sure killer -- constant scan, which is not all that wise when you are flying close to the ground at night with a lot of light distractions. That's what your crew chiefs are for.
Also to be noted is that the reported altitudes for both aircraft are probably pressure altitudes not height above terrain, so the reports of the aircrafts' altitudes can't be known for certain until the black boxes' data is examined.
Lots of unlikely things lined up to create this crash. That's usually the case. I don't have an answer as to how to prevent something like this. All I know is follow procedure to the letter each and every time you fly, neglect nothing, be relentlessly vigilant.
Pattern-blinking LEDs couldn't have hurt, but there are so many factors....
Some things:
The CRJ was approaching from the left and in a helo, unlike a fixed wing where the pilot always sits in the left seat, the HAC (Navy for Helicopter Aircraft Commander), may and often does sit in the right seat. You can sit in either right or left seat, doesn't matter. But if the HAC was in the right seat he could not have seen the left-on-coming CRJ, and the H2P (co-pilot) in the left seat probably couldn't either because of the UH60's poor pilot lateral visibility. This helo's crew normally comprises two pilots and two crew chiefs. The crew chiefs' job is to look out for traffic and other things from the side.
When there is only one crew chief available, he usually sits on the right side.
Then there is the night vision goggle situation. Helo pilots normally fly night with NVGs. Those are useful but looking through them is like looking through a toilet paper tube. Plus you have them an inch or two from your eyes so you can glance down at the instrument panel. And we don't know if the pilots were using the old green phosphor or new white phosphor NVGs. Probably doesn't make a difference, but maybe.
The only way to see your 90 degree with NVGs is to perform a slow -- to avoid spatial disorientation, which is a sure killer -- constant scan, which is not all that wise when you are flying close to the ground at night with a lot of light distractions. That's what your crew chiefs are for.
Also to be noted is that the reported altitudes for both aircraft are probably pressure altitudes not height above terrain, so the reports of the aircrafts' altitudes can't be known for certain until the black boxes' data is examined.
Lots of unlikely things lined up to create this crash. That's usually the case. I don't have an answer as to how to prevent something like this. All I know is follow procedure to the letter each and every time you fly, neglect nothing, be relentlessly vigilant.