Another point I should make about the Bryant crash (now that i've looked it up): while the pilot was IFR rated and the helicopter theoretically had the required

Another point I should make about the Bryant crash (now that i've looked it up): while the pilot was IFR rated and the helicopter theoretically had the required instruments, the owning company was not certified for IFR passenger service. That means he the flight was filed as VFR. One of the things they teach you when you get an IFR rating is that you don't fly into IFR weather (IFC for the pedants) during a VFR flight without a pre-filed plan. His IFR training didn't teach him to fly in those conditions---it taught him to avoid them. They didn't have an IFR flight plan or clearance, so flying into a fog bank and persisting in that flight was forbidden and if unavoidable would constitute an emergency. Which is why I tend to look pretty hard at the pilot in this case, not the instruments.