May I commit sacrilege here and criticize the late Mr. Bryant? Early reports stated that his pilot was not instrument rated. Which means he should NOT have taken off in VFR conditions, but was ordered to do so by his employer. Was Bryant too “frugal” to employ an instrument rated pilot? (Assuming that an IFR Rating commands more $$$$ than VFR does).
From the article above:
The 50-year-old Zobayan’s most recent flight review included training on inadvertently flying into bad weather conditions. It covered how to recover if the aircraft’s nose is pointed too far up or down and what to do if the helicopter banks severely to one side. He earned satisfactory grades in the review, which took place in May 2019.
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He was instrument rated, but flying into instrument conditions violated corporate policy and their certificate for operation.
I think the pilot was instrument-rated but had filed for Visual bc he wanted to fly low under the clouds. I bet the fog got really thick right then as they neared the coast; sounds like the pilot got totally disoriented in the fog as well.
If the pilot was flying for pay, he had to have a Commercial license, and to get a Commercial license you have to have an Instrument rating.
It wasn’t his helicopter. He was using a helicopter taxi service. Do you check the drivers license of the driver when you take a taxi?