Thierry Dubois is a freelance writer specializing in helicopters, business aviation and aerospace technology. He earned a degree in fluid dynamics from an engineering school in Toulouse, France in the mid-1990s. At an unexpected crossroads, he found his first job in journalism. In 1997, he started working for French aerospace weekly Air &amp; Cosmos in Paris. This lasted until 2000, when he moved south to Lyons. He then became a freelancer, working for various aerospace publications and has been part of the AIN team since late 2000. In addition to writing about business aviation, Thierry shares responsibility for the rotorcraft section. He also is a regular on-site writer for AIN’s daily editions at international airshows such as the Paris, Farnborough, Dubai and Singapore shows, as well as at EBACE in Geneva.
In 2007, he won the Honeywell award for “Best systems or technology submission” at the Aerospace journalist of the year awards. In 2013, he won an Aerospace Media Award for the "Best Safety, Training &amp; Simulation Submission."
In other activities, Thierry moderates international conferences on aviation technology topics. Thierry is married and has three children, who seem to begin enjoying the mountains–as their parents do.

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Thierry Dubois

The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has released a further update on its investigation into the <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/2013-08-24/four-die-chc-super-puma-accident-north-sea">August 23 ditching of a Eurocopter AS332L2 Super Puma</a> off the Shetlands islands. The latest document reveals that during the approach the pilot’s attention was drawn several times to a too-low-height warning.


Aboard the CHC Scotia-operated helicopter, the second warning came when the copilot advised, at 2.2 nm from the airport at 560 feet, that the target altitude at 1 nm was 390 feet. The pilot answered that he was reducing the rate of descent, which decreased to 500 fpm from 700 fpm.


However, the aircraft’s 74-knot airspeed was still too fast for the descent to meet the target. An automated alert could be heard on the cockpit voice recorder at 300 feet, the report said.


During the final stages of the flight, the AAIB said, the helicopter entered vortex-ring state, a condition where the main rotor’s effectiveness is significantly reduced. This was due to the combination of the nose-high attitude, low airspeed, high descent rate and high power.


The AAIB’s ongoing investigation will focus on how the pilots monitored instruments during the approach.

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