As an IFR pilot since 1987 operating out of Western Victoria I formed an early opinion that vfr pilots always push the weather, I did it myself between 1981 and 1987 and woke up following a series of controlled flight into terrain, that it was a mugs game to push on into adverse weather.
I operate in the region of both the Angel Flight fatalities and was across the first event at Horsham and saw the affect it had on the boys at Horsham Aviation, the pilots from Hamilton and in CASA who presented to us, the full details if the tragic flight, in a safety seminar last year.
The presentation pointed to all the events that lead to the flight into the ground in the dark.
I then heard first hand from a Rex pilot, the events leading up to the Mt Gambier crash in bad weather.
My wife got sick last year and I requested Angel Flight status to fly her down to Melbourne with ground angel support and was refused because I did not carry sufficient liability insurance, the suggestion being to raise it to $5 million and I thought, so this is how Angel Flight are going to deal with the litigation by throwing more back on the pilots.
After this event I withdrew from Angel Flight.
In my opinion any ppl should have minimum of 500-1000:hours possibly his own aircraft and a PIFR rating.
All flights should be on a flight plan.
Night flights to unfamiliar areas should be avoided.
I will discuss this more on this.
Three or so years back did a flight Essendon Mikdura and rtb Hamilton.
The patient was delayed in chemo, and time got on.
I was partial fuel due to weight limits and the forecast saw increasing head winds and a longer time interval of nearly 3 hours plus two to base making it night on last stage and home to Hamilton.
I called Angel Flight and expressed my concerns and was told sharply "Go Home Then!"
The patient called me later that night and expressed his delight at being put on a Rex RPT flight to Mildura, and I thought its that easy to bump someone into a regular flight, so why did I stress over it?
My wife hated me doing Angel Flights from any aerodrome served by RPT as she and I both knew Sharp Airlines for example offered the patients a free seat and the carer a discount.
I did several flights from Mt Gambier even though Rex was operating there and during one winter flight at 9000 feet in freezing weather I looked down the back and saw the girl and her mum looking positively terrified in the turbulence, and worried about that.
Dont get me wrong some flights were great, Ivys Army for example where I flew Ivy Steel who had leukemia down and back down and back, IFR into Essendon and it all worked out well.
And a young baby burns victim, all good.
But the two Angel Flight events weighed heavily on my mind and lead me to just sell my plane and hang up the headset 72 yo 8000 hours of which 6000 was ifr flying with 21 command and five or six PIFR reviews.
During past couple of reviews my assessment and that of my instructor Nathan, Redacted textwas that my edge had gone and I needed to put in more work on my reviews, which meant that much of my annual flying was recency and practice.
And I found the night flying alone single pilot particularly tasking,
I never willingly did a night Angel Flight and remember refusing to do the night leg Redacted text
A previous experience in that plane a Lance where we picked up a patient at Melbourne and I did the night leg home Redacted text we let down into solid overcast into Hamilton.
On way into town the patient asked how we managed to fly planes onto the ground in the dark?
On another occasion on final onto 17 at Hamilton the lights fused at 300 feet and it was pitch up power up and get the hell out of there.
That guy never flew with me again.
The point I am making in my tell all about my experience is that I am a high hours ifr pilot and got into trouble and out of it in Angel Flights which are often responses to a pilot urgently needed email from Angel Flight and often just in time on demand flights and
you have to really know your stuff.
Or as they say have your shit together.
Those flights would not have normally seen me doing early departures and late arrivals and the onus was on me to carry it off no ifs or buts, not pressure much!
I remember on a leg from Mildura flying into really crook weather on the way home, which was not a great experience.
Angel Flight insisted towards the end that if in doubt pull out, but in early days we never even knew their weight and luggage unless we asked and often they would turn up with family members in tow who planned on coming Redacted text.Redacted textLook Angel Flights might be great in sunny outback Australia.
SW Victoria is real ifr country, unprecictable and its killed two flights all dead two too many imo.
Its probably why you are asking the questions now after backing away from the first crash, maybe if the industry had not protested so much and cried foul the second victims might still be alive?
hope this helps feel free to email me and caution who you tell this story to,
it is after all my opinion and I would hate to start a war with Angel Flight.
cheers.