Prayers
RIP - pic top right is from our town, she was former cadet, piper.
That sucks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_CH-148_Cyclone
I’m not a navy guy - so I had to check up what sort of bird this is.
Personally, I never liked flying on helicopters and I use to a lot while in the Army.
They shake and vibrate, everything spins in circles, the power has to be bent over gear boxes, and they are all inherently unstable (they want to crash unless there are constant control inputs may that be by a pilot or a computer - you don’t have the stability like a fixed wing). Then on top of it all, they like to hang out low, and altitude is your friend when shit goes wrong. Then when they hit the ground it’s often really ugly, unlike many fixed wings that essentially become a poor glider.
Nope, don’t like helicopters, Harriers, Tilt Rotors... notice a trend here? Vertical take off and landing aircraft, all of them basically (unless it’s a balloon), aren’t known for their extraordinary safety record.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-dec-15-na-harrier15-story.html (1/3 of all Harriers ever built for the USMC have crashed, but not in wars... accidents)
https://fortune.com/2017/08/05/v22-osprey-crash-australia/
I suppose you need the capability of vertical take off and landing (like on a ship), or for medical evac, etc. So it’s the age old question of risk/cost vs. benefit. You just have to assume the risk if you really need that capability.
Sad news... R.I.P. Hope they find survivors, but not confident they will with a helicopter crash in the Sea...