Guys, just my 2 cents--I have flown this route hundreds of times for that company in the EC130
There is no issue with t/r authority in any conditions in the 130, you must mash the pedals harder than other boosted types but you can do most anything in any wind conditions.
The weather in the canyon can be very extreme IE: micro bursts, severe up and down drafts, T storms, turbulence etc..
The quartermaster site is a few hundred feet above the river and the pilots are usually very confident of the direction of wind based on a sock above the shade structure for Papillon and other landing traffic etc..
To be all out of sorts on short final to the LZ leads me to think its pilot error or some strange mechanical issue we dont know about yet...!!!
The NTSB gives no clues as to what happened
The pilot will be the only one who can shed light on what happen...!!
In my experience Papillon had excellent MX excellent TRNG during my time..
Only time will tell....