Glad to see we’ve got back too the original question.
Interesting comment about “ensuring” float failure! My view is that given time pop out floats will deflate anyway leading to the airframe capsizing.
Anybody who has done Helicopter Underwater Egress (Escape) Training will know that a float failure is assumed hence the emphasis on evacuation of the helicopter whilst inverted underwater.
As an aside one of my friends was doing his HUET revalidation yesterday. Somehow he managed to split his head open whilst evacuating upside down. He is now flying today with a dispensation for not having revalidated his HUET and a second dispensation for flying with a pre existing condition. He looks quite comical. Anybody who sees a rather large captain landing on a tropical platform with what looks like a turban on his head will know who I’m talking about.
A suggestion to any pilots out there who don’t undergo HUET training as part of their job is, I would highly recommend attending a course. I saw an advert recently in a flying magazine offering such courses to private pilots. It may have been Flyer Magazine and through Biggin Hill Helicopters for less than GBP100 but I’m not too sure. Not only does such a course teach you how to evacuate a helicopter upside down underwater but it also teaches preparedness for such an incident and gives you the confidence and respect needed to handle life threatening incidents like this. These courses will be held around any major offshore flying base. In the UK, Great Yarmouth, Aberdeen, Fleetwood and Hull all have facilities to do this training. Money well invested.