Originally Posted by
Mr Optimistic
As a layman that's exactly what I would have assumed. Is it possible you could explain without undue effort?
Just to add to Bravo73's comments, in many helicopters, airspeed indicators aren't very useful below about 20 - 30kts and certainly won't work when drifting sideways or backwards, so there is very little to inform you of whether you are drifting and if so, in which direction. GPS track/groundspeed may help but is influenced by wind so is not really that helpful unless you know the wind accurately. There is a recent example of a trained Search & Rescue crew in the UK who attempted the exact same recovery mentioned in the article (hover, and climb vertically until clear of terrain or VMC), and despite their training and experience, only managed to get away after unintentionally rotating through 370° while they climbed. Here's the report so you can read about the hovering in IMC incident in more depth if you wish:
https://assets.publishing.service.go...MCGR_09-19.pdf