I got to thinking...
1) Low-time machine and the tail rotor comes off? ATSB cannot find a definitive cause?
2) You know how we always caution pilots to operate the helicopter within limits so something doesn't break on
the next pilot? Maybe this guy was a victim of...well..himself. Maybe he was his own "next pilot." The ATSB cast aspersions on him, noting all the other incidents and accidents his helicopters have been involved in. Add to that the fact that he was technically not legal to fly, which demonstrates a certain casualness with rule-following. We might infer that this casualness carried over into how he operated the ship. Perhaps he was not diligent about observing power limits while at the same time being more rough on the pedals than is necessary? We don't know what he did with that R-44 in the 280 hours he flew it, but I'll bet it was used and abused. Maybe this guy did it to himself? Maybe he was used to horsing those things around? His history certainly hints at this.
3) Here's one amazing tidbit from the investigation:
While there was a large shift forward in centre of gravity it is highly likely that VH‑NBY’s centre of gravity remained within limits following the in-flight break-up.
Are you kidding me?? This implies rather strongly that the ship could have remained controllable and *perhaps* landed safely after the "event" (as has evidently happened before). How many other helicopters can do that? The ATSB does go on to say that once the rotation began, proper control inputs (e.g. closing the throttle and getting rid of the torque) would've had to have been done within one rotation as the lateral g-forces become too high to manipulate the controls. As someone who had an actual t/r d/s failure in a 206 in a hover which went 'round a couple of times, I can attest that the lateral forces quickly become high and disorienting. And remember, the 206 has the mast above the back seat, not behind the cab like the R-44. So the 206 pilot is closer to the center of rotation, in other words.
I've never been an outright Robbie-hater, and my respect for the R-44 has grown with this accident.