Bravo73 - I agree with what you say regarding training for such departures but you are talking about offshore pilots departing from helidecks with this procedure as part of their OPC.
Were either of the pilots in this accident offshore trained? Even if they were how long since they did an offshore OPC to practice this technique.
I completely get the 139 profile, I've done it myself both in the sim and the aircraft but if you have two guys not au fait with the procedures and calls then any distraction could be problematic.
I understand the IR is FW orientated but I don't understand why the helicopter community hasn't pushed for something that better represents RW ops - God knows we've been doing them long enough.
The basic military IFTO can be SP or MP and is very similar to the 139 procedure detailed by RL77CHC but you wait for positive climb on rad alt and bar alt before starting to transition forwards as there is no TDP.
We will eventually learn the cause of this accident but if it turns out to be CFIT, saying offshore pilots could do it easily isn't very helpful since it seems they weren't.