A few points I would like to make about some of the comments on the ride:
1. The scenic flight business is very much dependent on ‘word of mouth’ advertising. We have seen it here on pprune where one rotorhead asks others who to fly with in Las Vegas or Hawaii.
2. I would think by the way most passengers had their cameras out that they had some idea of what they were in for; and probably that is why they were there.
3. ‘Non-scheduled public transport’, as we call ‘scenic flights’ in my part of the world, is regarded by insurers as inherently dangerous. It is excluded from most standard ‘travel insurance’ policies.
4. It can be argued that nothing in the video was dangerous unless there was an in-flight emergency. The same can be said for all forms of airline, sea, rail or road travel. Does the helicopter industry need another bout of self-flagellation?
5. If there is concern that a forced landing following a malfunction may lead to ‘issues’ then lets consider what issues need to be addressed if that forced landing was perfectly successful. It seems to me that they are flying over a pretty remote area where ‘rescue’ might be slow in coming. In which case should we be worried about the capability of the passengers to endure the survival phase before the rescue – I think not.