I think one has to have a fair amount of sympathy for the R22 / R44 series. They are inherently underpowered (specifically Beta & Astro), but have been vastly improved of late.
I agree with the notion of the ab initio training. Too many guys nowadays are purely getting PPL(H)s for the sake of keeping up with the Jones', after having tried Scuba diving, skate boarding, 4 x 4, etc. More often than not only a fat wallet and no savvy whatsoever.
It's probably also most unfair to, especially, the R22s. The high-risk & exposure that the machines are subjected to makes for the perfect scapegoat, albeit that a catastrophic failure very seldom occurs. Ironically enough, "new" pilots are expected to Solo and Hire&Fly on the weakest machines possibel and wait their turn to fly the bigger (more poweful) types.
Suppose that's just the way the boperwors burns....
Would still like to know what exactly happened in Sutherland and why has it all been kept so quiet? Perhaps a cock-eye charter or game job at the same time? Methinks perhaps rather get the facts first before I'm shot before dawn!
FD