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- Marriott:
Maui Ocean Club
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HGVC at Sea World
The helicopter involved in the Hawaii crash referenced in the article was a Robinson R44, I believe, not a Bell 206.Can someone point me to the article that says the pilot, Sean Johnson, wasn't certified? The NTSB has not released any information on him except to say he had 788 logged flight hours and was a licensed commercial pilot with an instrument rating. On another point statistics about aircraft safety can be very misleading for those of you who are not in the flying profession. They could be based on miles flown, hours flown, mishap fatalities, takeoffs and landings or a myriad of other criteria. If you use miles flown no helicopter would rate very high. If you use hours flown the Bell 206 is probably the safest aircraft ever produced. Definitely the safest helicopter.
Some of the posters have said they didn't enjoy their helo tour because of the aerobatic antics of the pilot. For that I sincerely apologize on behalf of all the professionals in the industry. A pilot should always tailor the flight profile to the mission. Airline pilots do not simulate staffing runs while landing, that's not what the folks in the back are paying for. As an EMS pilot the Paramedic wanted a nice stable flight so they could tend to the patient. On the other hand as a military pilot sometimes the pax, military jargon for passengers, wanted a more interesting experience. I've never worked in the tour industry but I don't think it's much different from EMS or VIP transport missions.
I do believe the chopper that crashed in NYC this week was a 206.