Thanks for the professional refocus, SASless. Was not CFIT. Nothing controlled about the end of the flight. He had hit the "cannot go further" after following a great low-vis visual reference, the freeway and now had at least 3 options:
1. Landed on the Station 125 helipad beside the freeway at Las Virgenes Road, or
2. positioned to the left side and done a slow tight right turn (his side with all the good windows for reference) 180 and exit east along the 101, or
3. big depend on local terrain knowledge, climbed up to an MSA and called ATC as a pop-up for an approach to Camarillo that has an LPV limits of 300-3/4.
All three are not bad options, throw the passenger considerations in the mix, and the one we'd like as pilots - landing on a pad and having a coffee to wait 30 minutes for the rapidly changing weather- isn't one your "precious time" passengers are keen on. To turn and back out on the 101, now you are over an hour into your fuel, still have to get to the coast, still have to stooge around to the west and try to get back up your intended spot, more time lost that has the passengers drumming their fingers. Lastly, you are finally somewhat out of the ATC zoo of the LA basin, and with whatever you have in the cockpit (even Foreflight on an iPad) you manage your own terrain separation and climb up calling ATC for a clearance. Well, he got to reportedly 2400', had turned south to line up with the lower ground down towards Malibu, got the call in to ATC, and then... it all went pear shaped.
Did he couple the autopilot to the heading bug and IAS on the climb, pull MCP, trim to 80 knots. Did he have a GPS referenced terrain map apart from Foreflight. Any modern situational awareness avionics like a Garmin 750, could it fly an LPV, could he fly an LPV, or was he stuck with a POS stone age UNS-1D. That weather is pretty normal stuff for the LA Basin. Sheriffs are being a little dramatic, their SOP limits are 800-2 by department standards, well above the FAA VFR legal limits, so wrong guys to ask.
If the climb was planned and intentional, vs the two other options, then it must have been sanctioned in some way by the operator. When was the last time "*A-a*" was in an S76 simulator for IFR practise, how did he do on check rides in the sim (the only place to simulate hard IMC), what was the automation use SOP for that organization. Platitudes from fellow pilots and students mean nothing in this discussion.