Another thought I had was if I remember correctly the tail rotor detached at the input in the 44 accident in Broom Western Aus, Perhaps another gearbox failure?
Was there a conclusion from the investigation into the Broome crash?
There
might be a disturbing pattern occurring.
While not impossible, it would seem extremely unlikely, that pilot error during the reported high (OGE) hover could sever the tail boom.
Catastrophic and unrecoverable mechanical failure is most pilots worst scenario.
When caught on video, the impact is chilling, and can have a deleterious effect on product confidence.
EC225’s are cheap to buy, for EG.
I’m less and less happy to board B737’s (and too scared to watch “Downfall”)