Around 1983 one Dave Moran, ex-AAC, had the same malfunction just as he was positioning a 205A to pick up an underslung load at Saiq in Oman (6300 ft amsl, temp at that time of year around 20 degrees). I gather he rolled the throttle shut and landed right next to the USL on the other side from the Jebel VOR who was waiting to hook-up. Don't know how many rotations the aircraft made, but the aircraft landed level and was completely undamaged. Top bit of flying.
It gave me pause for thought, as only the day before I'd been flying the same aircraft for the artillery cadets at Izki. Usual stuff - load the aircraft up full, quick circuit to make sure they're all happy then off at low level (SOAF version) across the bundu to give them their moneysworth. If that same malfunction had occurred just a few flying-hours earlier, would anyone have bothered to look for the pitch-change link in the wreckage or would it have just gone down as yet another low-flying-pilot-cocks-it-up-bigtime? It didn't stop me from operating at low altitude, but I spent a great deal more attention going through the "what-ifs" when doing so...