Thone1, thanks for clearing things up in your post on the previous page.
I appreciate the comments by JimL about making a risk assessment and by Grenville about the importance of encouraging precaution. I will admit that for me this accident has renewed my commitment to track coastal whenever possible in singles and to carry sufficient safety equipment on SE over water flights - I don't mind admitting it.
This accident has happened in the middle of an assessment I am doing between the Bell 407 and AS 350 B3 and I have to say that the comments on PPRuNe in recent months on servo-transparency and hydraulic failures, plus now the threat of t/r driveshaft failure have slightly blurred my objectivity in the report and so in the new year I need to bring this [objectivity] back into focus.
The client was already leaning towards the B3 - mainly because his kids (who are young) like the open-form cabin but I am honestly conflicted (especially when I think about his family) as to which is the safer helicopter to recommend.
I know the 350 has heaps of safe flying hours to its credit but I'm concerned that it also has one or two quirks which I don't yet fully understand and which I need to make myself familiar with.
Because I don't want to induce a thread drift anyone with any fact based comments between the two types (for European based operations onshore mid-altitude range mainly private flying) please feel free to PM me.
Thanks.