Originally Posted by
lederhosen
I saw a picture of the helicopter looking reasonably intact (minus the blades obviously) and a long way below a small debris field near the ridge. I know the article says they hit just below the ridge. But is it clear they were en route and hit the ridge rather than landing to drop off skiers? It certainly looked like somewhere you could ski down. An accident involving a rotor blade strike possibly on an unmarked landing site seems at least possible.
The cabin of a 350, does not take much when you hit nose first at some speed. Looking at the slope, weather reports and damage to the cabin, I think bladestrike while dropping ogf the skiers is a plausible theory. Will be interesting to hear what the survivor says.