It’s tempting to say that it was unnecessarily risky to fly a helicopter in that weather but fog is not unusual during winter in some parts of CA. Driving a car may well be statistically more of a risk.
They reported on GMA this morning that the LAPD had grounded ALL of their helos because of the fog...................
Um fog is different than a marine layer. Fog is a no go situation. You can’t see anything forward on the ground. Can you imagine being in a helo trying to go forward with 100ft of visibility? I’ll take my chances in a car. I’m an airplane pilot with 20,000 plus hours.
Fog would be a major factor if they flew into something tall like a building or mountain. This appears to be some sort of malfunction which caused the helicopter to dive. Unless the pilot had spatial disorientation (ala JFK Jr.) and thought he was flying parallel to the ground and was actually flying into the ground, I would not blame fog as the cause.
(note: lay person’s opinion, not a pilot)