Thread: Robinson helicopters - new possible rules CAA

Originally Posted by tetawa

interested in the input from pilots who may have discussed it with other overseas pilots. Wondered if "pilot error" was being pushed there.

I haven't had anything to do with Robinsons for well over a decade and admit to being completely out of the loop with both the type and the NZ scene.
In 2004 I would have told you that when operated and maintained within the limitations of the Robinson manuals, they are an extremely safe and capable series of helicopter. I still run with that statement, however this thread has me questioning it pretty hard. There is obviously something going on here.

To answer your question Tetawa, this issue is not at the forefront of discussion in my wee corner of the industry, but it's prompted me to get talking. Those stats comparing the occurrence rates between NZ and the States would need to be broken down further to draw any hard conclusions that there is a 'New Zealand' aspect to the problem.

Eventually some poor sod will capture one on a GoPro, then there will hopefully be some hard facts to work with.