Flight tracker information appears to show the helicopter flying into the hill at 150 mph. Looks like the pilot tried to gain altitude right at the end. I do not know how accurate the flight tracker info is. If you listen to the air traffic control tape you can hear the controller asking the pilot what he is doing. He asks what are you intentions? Your altitude is too low for that terrain. The air traffic controller told the pilot to follow the freeway but for some reason the pilot took a left turn into the hill. We'll get a report from the Feds in a few months. Be interested to see what they find.
I am having lunch with some pilots today. one question I have, is if there was heavy fog, why wasn't the pilot flying at an altitude about any hills or structures, to avoid this kind of event? I don't fly, but it seems like a sensible thing.
Pilots get very disoriented easily in dense fog or no visibility situations. Once we loose our visual reference, our other senses try to fight to make us do what they think they are experiencing. So a pilot may pull back on the stick thinking they are diving and actually cause a stall, or dive when they think they are flying level (JFK Jr's accident). The question is; why didn't the pilot rely on instruments? All things considered, even with 0 visibility, the instruments should have been showing motion and altitude. He was a seasoned pilot. But there is a reason Instrument Flight Rating is more difficult to get. I had a acquaintance that was a flying instructor. He would demonstrate IFR flying by covering up the top half of the monitor when running MS Flight Simulator. I think in real airplanes the students have to fly with the windscreen blocked and navigate a flight path with no visual references. Imagine driving your car strictly on what the navigation system, or of your car isn't equipped, what Google Maps is telling you. A bit crude but same principle.
