Originally Posted by
Nubian
Nose to tail length is irrelevant, cargo-hook to closest point of t/r is not, which is about half the overall length...
Of course it's relevant. If you've got a load hanging off the hook that is about as long as the helicopter is, if it goes aerodynamic and swings back it's about the right length to put it in the tail rotor. 10m long AS350, 10m long load = danger, it can swing back and hit the tail rotor. Which is what happened in this instance. If you don't understand that I don't know of a simpler way to explain it.