I agree with Guns - it's just plain stupid to fly a sling-load over an area where people may be below. Some argue that one shouldn't get out of bed then (basing this on the fact that a helicopter itself should never fly over an area with people below in case of engine failure).
They argue this because the odds of what happened in Austria are so slim.
Except they miss one point I feel. If a chopper's engine fails there is STILL a very good chance of a decent landing through auto-rotation (and a fairly reasonable opportunity to put it down AWAY from people or at least in an open space, circumstances allowing it - the odds are far better than a lost sling load "out of control" and falling straight down).
Had that chopper had an engine failure over that cable and it's gondolas, I will put money on the fact that the pilots would have auto-rotated onto something ELSE (like the snow, mountain, rocks, whatever) and would have avoided that cable and gondolas like the plague...
Get the difference?
To sum up, Guns is correct I feel, with just a small amount of basic discipline and foresight (closing the cableway first etc), this tragedy would never have occurred.
That commander should be hauled over the coals (sorry mate) - there are far too many "gung-ho" "chance takers" out there...