I recently met a (now rather old) German civilian who witnessed this accident from close quarters. I had heard of it before, but just now read the BOI.
My main thoughts/questions are:
- salient lesson to all, in the huge inertia possessed in heavy helo (esp. Chinook) turbine/transmission systems
- the old BOI system and its focus on blame seems rather old-fashioned and out of step with current notions of safety best practice in aviation - I'm glad it has been modernised
- the Stn Cdr proposed to take a sympathetic line with the Captain, however he was overruled. Does anyone know what became of him? Did he recover fully from his injuries?
Lastly, and most importantly, what a terribly sad loss of young life. May they rest in peace.