https://www.reddit.com/r/CatastrophicFailure/comments/rhhpop/helicopter_crashes_after_clipping_power_line_on/

That was brutal to watch! RIP!!!!

Actually found myself in the same situation years ago along I10 west of Lake Charles.  I was down to the height of the bridge roadway, but I was pretty much hovering along at that point, looking for a place to set down.  Was able to limp into Sabine.  Yep, it was stupid, but I'm alive to tell the story.  Some people are luckier than others.

Most of us who have been in this industry a few years have lost friends and read about the loss of life after poor decision making (including our own past poor decisions), yet we have, for some reason been given a second or even a third chance. I watched the video yet I wish I hadn't, we know how those final seconds end but seeing it in todays world of reality cams is not only sickening but panful for me to watch. I cannot imagine how his family must feel. My/Our thoughts go out to his family, may you heal over time and know that your loss is felt by the community he was part of.

RIP young man. 

Crossing at a pole prevents this issue (unless the pole is up in the soup).

Regarding the comment of creeping along the same highway: Utility guys creep along in low weather all the time, the key is to fly at a smart speed (don't outfly visibility). 

The problem in weather is when you keep trying to fly like an airplane (fast and high).  

I do not fly in the soup all the time. My company would fire people for that. You must work for one of the fly by night outfits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkNCvSCKoyo

Is this what you mean?

you get to the crossing nobody knew about.

I'm sad to see a life lost.  Maybe watching this video will have same a few?

Personally, I was disturbed watching this video, I did a lot of scud running in my day, but I always slowed the Aircraft to a manageable speed ( I hoped ) to avoid this kind of outcome in minimal visibility.

From the video, the Pilot was obviously traveling at a high rate of airspeed which explains the Main Rotor seperation.

My heart goes out to his family and friends, and I hope you all learn from this tradedy.

Too many. I saw a 206 at treetop level in a snow storm a few days ago.

More than you think, unfortunately 

Agreed....Low vis flying is only possible when you are intimately familar with the obstactles on your route and you speed is low enough that you do not out fly your visibility.  That might mean quite literally flying at a walking pace, tree top to tree top waiting for an opening so you can set down and wait it out.  As long as you do not give up visual reference to the ground you will not lose control and familarity with terrain you will not hit anything.  Most of us here are in the EMS sector where our GOM has us on the ground long before the wx get this bad and if you came to EMS after flight instuction and then tours to get up your hours then you really didnt have a reason to be out in those conditions either.  

Charter side of things, especially if you were doing 91 work or the 135 you worked at did not have high wx minimums in the GOM then you can find yourself in the potential for those situation.  Our mins were 300' and 1/2 day, 500' and 1 at night.  The common routes that were flown you would have training and expected to know all hazards along the route.  Bad wx days the newer pilots would go out with the more experienced to see what things look like.  If you only get a chance to fly around with greater than 10 miles vis the first time you see 4 miles can be an awakening even though perfectly fine and legal. Now you wouldnt launch at minimums on a flight but sometime you would utilize them to finish the flight, but only after extensive training and only if you absolutely knew it could be done safely. 

For utility guys out there, its this but just up another notch.  Owner of my flight school was a 30 year utility guy, many lessons learned from him on how not to kill yourself in wx and that includes knowing when you need to just land it and wait it out.  

Flying for MTC now day is 1000 and 3 and night 1500 and 5.  Needless to say I'm turning down flights long before it become a comfort or safety issue which is the exactly the idea they were going for.  The lessons learned from previous ventures make this an easy enviorment to operate in.  For others if you get caught out in the soup and you are all by yourself and its the first time experiencing anything like it then its probably going to scare the ** out of you and it can be deadly.  

The idea is you have to known when to call it quits and either divert, turn around or land where you are.  You do not want to go poking around in an area that you do not known like that back of your hand.  If you do you need to do so at a speed that allows you see anything that comes out of the merky soup ahead of you, analysis it and avoid it and none of that should be happening with any speed, there should be no quick reactions required.  60kts is 1 nm a minute, if you only have 1/2nm vis than that is 30 seconds approaching an object, if its worse than that, keep going slower.  In unfamilar areas or a much safer for everyone regardless of experience level is if you drop 30 knots off your cruising speed due to visibility than its time to divert, turn around or land.  Doing 120 and you have to drop to 90 to feel comfortable? Call it quits.  

Years ago, while discussing flying in bad weather with another pilot, this being Gulf flying and me being around the 1500 hour level at the time, I made the comment that slowing down made good sense to me.  The other guy made the comment; if you have to slow down, you are admitting to an inadequate level of skill and experience.  I actually considered his response for at least a minute or two before realizing how wrong he was.  Btw, he is not around anymore; was killed along with his pax in a fuel starvation incident years later.  And I'm still standing.  You can slow a helicopter down, and land almost anywhere.  You can have all of the sophistication that money can buy, but you can't buy common sense.

Z

sophistication bro. technology, yes. sophistication, no. your gloating about the other guy being dead is quite distasteful

I dont think he was bragging, more like saying his approach probably right. 

There's a screen video capture of his "blocked" flightaware out there (while he was actively flying) and it showed 119kts right before the wires.

Yes, ADSB data shows him at 120kts prior to wires, the next data point and last is right at the wires, the ADSB actually sent out data between the strike and impact as it has a vertical descent of 1088 fpm.

Wires and towers can appear where they weren't before, literally overnight. So knowing hazards isn't going to be enough.

A lot of you pin-d*cks bristle at taking advice from a 1500-hour pilot. I submit that most of you skygods would not accept advice from Chuck Yeager himself. And why would you? With *very* few exceptions, one of the endearing qualities of nearly every helicopter pilot I've ever met is that they think they know everything already and don't need no stinkin' advice from anybody!  "I've already got enough experience, thank you, and I don't nee YOU to tell me how to do this sh*t."  And yet despite our hubris, we keep crashing helicopters and dying.

I was thinking that the 407 pilot might have had a better chance if he'd been slower.  But looking at Google Earth images of where that powerline crosses I-10, those wires probably would have been darn near invisible until he was right on them.  Hey, every one of us who's got *any* kind of experience has been in that pilot's shoes.  Let's not be too hard on him.

you always go down the wrong path. always, always, always. nobody said we shouldn't take advice from a low-timer. it's just that some of us have been around long enough to know the difference between good advice and bad advice. many of us have not put ourselves in that guys position. don't lump every pilot into your "we have all done this" fantasy to make yourself feel better. 

Look at how far you can see the large stanchion power lines in the distance in this clip:

https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/local/st-john/i-10-closure-for-powerline-repairs-after-helicopter-crash-postponed/289-2c39464c-cf48-432b-ad71-35dcd40d326b>

The powerlines were NOT "darn near invisible"... they rarely are unless you're flying at night.  The wires themselves are obviously invisible but that's why you fly over the pole (or low enough so the power poles stand out on the white horizon; not at the "in between altitude" of FW and RW).  

Notice where the truck passes under the wires at the beginning of the OP video then notice where it impacts.  That bird SAILS with no rotor head for some distance past the wires. 

The majority of helicopter pilots try to fly helicopters like planes... too high and too fast when conditions aren't best for that. 

Also, on a random note: "avoiding FW traffic" at an airport, per the AIM, can mean you don't have to fly a traffic pattern at all if you come in slow and safe to an airport as well.  Doesn't mean you don't have to enter the pattern, but it's not a requirement.

You must not have flown in the "wire environment ". I have( for years). Wires can be "completely invisible ". Towers are better indicators but not fail proof. 

I had an old high time pilot tell me years ago, the time to land is when you find yourself leaning forward in the seat to see.  That has served me well.

3 strikes amd time to quit. Strike 1 slow down, strike 2 lower collectiv, when time for strike 3, land the acft. Kept me alive for many years   RIP to this pilot 

If you are flying for a living your best possible option is to follow the rules, period. The rules may not save you but at least they move the needle more towards safety.

You can look up the data at ADSB exchange, tail is N150AS.  I went back through the history and the aircraft spends very little time east of Baton Rogue, seems most flights are to the west.  The last time the aircraft passed through that area was 9/21/21 and was at 800'  There is bravo airspace there and depending on routing he may have been planning on going through it or around it.  Liveatc doesnt have best feed for KMSY but didnt hear anything on it in the archive.  There is a chance he was eyes inside getting ready to talk to ATC and loss those precious seconds of seeing the tower/wires.  But confirms 120kts just before the strike.

I wonder what was his mission that was so important.

in a helicopter or pretty much anything else 

I always turned around or landed when the comforabilty factor went away.  Somewher around 40 kts. and a 1/2 mile.  Also dependent on where I was and terrain.  It is difficult to not let the mission dictate the wx.  Like a earlier poster said "common sense".

.

but then you might as well just stay at A and take a nap and not waste everybody's time

and response time always dictates 'when ya go down in lowering visibility (AGL), slow down!  Tends to work but once in the wire environment luck tends to dominate experience and everything else - 50/50 thing.

https://www.koco.com/article/live-each-day-to-the-fullest-brother-of-pilot-killed-in-crash-hopes-his-story-inspires-others/38557530

Are prone to. 

Highlight the fact that more hours does not necessarily make you immune from accidents.

https://www.aviationsafetymagazine.com/features/safer-by-the-hour/

but then, nobody said they were.

trick is to set your standards and stick to them.

Josh, a real hero. RIP brother man.