What a story! I am reminded of the audio tape I heard once with a US Army Cobra crew who went into cloud and lost ground reference. A whole lot of "You got it!" shouts and a lost set of skids were all documented in hilarious (black humor-wise) detail!
The need for all of us to call for EGPWS (Enhanced ground Proximity Warning Device) has never been clearer.
here is the Honeywell web site that describes it:
http://www.egpws.com/
I am told that a very effective BAE TERPROM is also available for military users.
http://www.terprom.com/
For all the talk about how to autorotate, and how many engines a given helo needs, the fact is that the dirt is what gets us, to the tune of about 40% of all helo accidents.