Im guessing that would have been exceedingly dangerous at the time of filming. I’m sure the instruments were not that advanced at the time.
Pilots and aircraft have been operating in IFR for decades with simplistic equipment with no issues. You can be decked out with the latest and greatest gear, but without proper training, all of that is irrelevant.
He didn't even have one of those terrain alert systems.
Island Express Helicopters, the owner of the helicopter that crashed, is only certified to operate flights under visual flight rules, meaning they can only operate when the cloud deck is at or above 1,000 feet and at least three miles of visibility. Why pay to install and maintain a Terrain Awareness and Avoidance Warning System when the company isn't certified to operate IFR flights? The pilot most likely knew he had terrain to the south which explains why he began to climb as he entered the turn. The issue is that he apparently lost control of the flight so a TAWS would've been useless in this particular instance.
I know he tried, if I understand it correctly, to go higher and was told they had commercial traffic in the way and then he asked for flight following and was advised he was too low for radar assistance. I assume that's the little bump up to 2000 feet likely because the fog was so bad and he was looking for a clear patch.
Burbank tower approved sVFR and instructed them to maintain an altitude at or below 2500' as they transited the departure paths of Burbank and Van Nuys to avoid departing traffic. Next, they were instructed to follow I-5 to State Route 118 then track highway 101 to their destination. As they begin their transit, the pilot reported to Van Nuys that they were currently at 1400' while the tower indicated overcast skies with a ceiling at 1100', visibility 2 1/2 miles and asks the pilot to report to Van Nuys ATC when they are in "VFR conditions." This means that well before they were anywhere near the 101 and headed westbound, they were already in IFR conditions. My guess is that they had difficultly identifying the 118 and 101 and reduced altitude as a result to gain visual of the roadways, which also put them too low for radar assistance.
I don't understand much about helicopters and I'm wondering if there's a reason why he was flooring it. I assume going slow in helicopter probably burns more fuel but if Wikipedia is correct he was almost at max speed. aircraft rarely traveled at Max speed, correct?
IMO, since they were placed in an unscheduled hold just southeast of BUR for 15 minutes, the pilot was trying to make up time once they were released from their hold.
You think he recovers is if he doesn’t hit that ridge? At what point does a helo pilot start hovering and acknowledging sh*t is too dangerous?
No chance. The combination of an increase in altitude while conducting a tight 180 turn in terrain with no visual references caused the pilot to lose control of the helicopter. Considering the fact they lost control during a turn, it's possible they barrel-rolled and crashed on their side or upside down, further reducing any possibility to recover.