It can be fairly bad news for helicopters; composite blades, sharp angles at the tail rotor tips, lots of gear teeth to spot weld each other etc. My last company lost an aircraft shortly after a strike (tail rotor shook itself to bits) but the 18 POB survived the ditching, and another a/c lost a main blade that had been previously damaged (but cleared as serviceable by the manufacturer) in a strike. sadly, you don't survive blade shedding!
