While 500 hours doesn’t seem significant with respect to commercial airline pilots, it’s a good amount of flight time in the military world. To determine proficiency, one would need to look at the past 30 - 60 days to see how many sorties she’s flown and what type of sorties she flew.
Finally, she was crewed with a more experienced pilot whose responsibility is to ensure the safe and orderly conduct of the flight. She wasn’t flying solo. Regardless of who was at the controls, the crew tragically failed.
It is not uncommon for pilots to be assigned tours out of the cockpit. In the Navy, we called them squadron appreciation tours or flying appreciation tours. Prior to returning to a fleet squadron we undergo significant refresher training.
Being assigned as a military White House aide is considered a very career enhancing assignment that most military officers would jump at given the opportunity regardless of who is in office. I had a buddy who worked in the Clinton WH. He loved the job, disliked the Clintons and the people who worked for them. He was a conservative.
All military helos have radar altimeters. Unfortunately at night over water, there is no such thing as good depth perception until it’s too late. More than one helo has bounced off the water due to inattentive pilots.
That was never drillled into me during my career. What is drilled into all pilots regardless of airframe is to be responsible for the safe and orderly conduct of the flight. If on an IFR flight plan, fly the plan, check in with ATC, follow instructions and practice good see and avoid techniques. If on a VFR plan, fly the plan, check in with ATC, follow instructions and practice good see and avoid techniques. ATC will prioritize IFR flights over VFR flights, but will treat each flight with the same precautions.
Simulators are no substitute for the real thing. All military aircraft transit from home base to training areas. Helos are no different and fly in, around and through terminal control areas on a routine basis without incident. Prior to entering, crews get permission and generally follow directions to safely enter and exit the area. This flight was obviously fouled up and ended tragically.
1,000 hours is a milestone. When that milestone is hit, one feels salty and “there I was” stories instantly have credibility. 500 hours makes one no longer a nugget.
For anyone who wants an idea of what it’s like to wear NVGs - grab two empty toilet paper tubes, put them together and look through them. Peripheral vision is reduced to about 40 degrees from 180 degrees or so Wearing them requires the user to change the scan to keep up situational awareness and requires a lot of training to become proficient.
The 1978 PSA midair involved a civilian Cessna and not a military helicopter. Additionally, the Cessna was practicing an instrument approach to the airport if I recall correctly. Much different circumstances with the same tragic outcome.
Military and civilian helicopter flights occurring in civilian terminal control areas been going on for eons throughout the world and established protocols and procedures have been followed successfully. This is a tragic mishap as are all crashes. Moving airfields is not the answer.
Military training goes on in many metropolitan areas so this is nothing new. I’m sure they were transiting to a MOA where they conduct training. I’ve not been stationed in the DC area but I have been stationed in San Diego right next the civilian airport and we had to fly through the TCA to go where we needed.