Medevac Pilots Ordered To Take Test

Earlier Policy Changed Ability For Pilots To Practice

BALTIMORE -- The WBAL TV 11 News I-Team has learned that Maryland State Police aviation command has ordered all Medevac pilots to complete an instrument landing competency test before they can resume flying.

The order for the test is in conjunction with in-flight checks of glide slope equipment in each helicopter. A glide slope assists in the pilots decent onto a landing zone.

The order followed last weekend's helicopter crash that killed four people. The pilot of Trooper 2, Stephen Bunker, 59, had told the tower at Andrews Air Force Base that he was having trouble capturing his glide slope -- or in common terms, acquiring the radio signal that provides guidance to the runway.

Bunker's service record and performance are part of the National Transportation and Safety Board's investigation.

But pilots who recently flew Trooper 2 told investigators that the aircraft's instruments were functioning normally. The helicopter had also just undergone a 100-hour inspection.

Several aviation experts who asked not to be quoted because of the ongoing investigation are questioning whether Bunker was flying too low for his glide slope to engage, I-Team reporter David Collins said.

According to the NTSB, Andrews recorded the helicopter flying at 700 feet within three miles of the runway. Experts told 11 News that's too low and too close to start an instrument approach. They said the pilot should have begun the process seven miles out and at least at 1,000 feet.

A neighbor of Walker Mill Regional Park told investigators he spotted the helicopter flying below the cloud ceiling. The NTSB said that just before the crash there were scattered clouds at 200 feet.

The NTSB determined the helicopter's first point of impact was the top of an 80-foot tree.

Experts pointed out that Bunker had other equipment on board indicating his altitude, and they also questioned whether the Andrews control tower provided a warning. The NTSB is also looking into air traffic control training.

In a memorandum dated Nov. 27, 2007, state police aviation unit commander Maj. A.J. McAndrew spelled out policy changes in the pilot training plan.

The four-page document said, in part, that due to the aviation command's current helicopter fleet maintenance situation, it is the intent of the new training plan to reduce flight time and provide more structured and consistent training.

The memo said, "Pilots will no longer fly with each other at the section level for instrument currency," meaning that pilots couldn't practice instrument landings like they used to whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Experts said the policy change could mean the difference between being proficient at instrument landing and just passing a required test to stay current to Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

The memo informed pilots that aviation command would be leasing a flight simulator from American Helicopters Inc., saying, "The simulator, although not specific to the Dauphine aircraft cockpit, will be utilized in a pinch for training current and new pilots on instrument procedures."

Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley said that policy changes to pilot training has made the program stronger, more structured, consistent and better.

State police also said that pilots are encouraged to practice instrument landing whenever they have the opportunity, and if they feel weak in any particular area, they are encouraged to go in and work with an instructor.

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/17610615/detail.html

Fonte: Flight Safety Information 03/10/2008.