Floats or not is academic, it was not a ditching, it was a high impact crash. Weakness in operational standard that governed aircraft equipment, operational oversight (flight following, crew scheduling), and pilot skill and qualification appears to have continued the open season helicopters seem to have on rich guys. You crash in the ocean and nobody knows for hours until you haven’t shown up at your destination? No sat tracking, no flight watch? I’ll reserve judgement on the crew suitability beyond just their certificates, we flew safely offshore and EMS with routine black hole departures because of our operational standards and experience requirements. Should have been an easy flight for a 139.