FH1100,
Now, let's talk about the sustained downwash from a big ship landing immediately adjacent and upwind. I reckon that if a Puma landed so close to me as to blow my helicopter over, then it's his fault for landing too close and MY fault for not realizing that he's a dumba** and getting out of there when I had the chance...or stopping the rotor and securing the blade/ship.
You have obviously not been to Bessbrook. It was a main helicopter base in Northern Ireland; an operational theatre at the time (i.e. certain locals were shooting at helicopters with some effective weaponry). It was really too small for the requirements of the helicopters using it and at that time was an extremely busy landing site and was surrounded by a rocket fence.
I would say that in the circumstances the dumbass was almost certainly not the Puma pilot! To leave an unattended helicopter of any sort running there was a stupid idea because it was highly likely that someone else would have to overfly your parking slot on the way in or out and in the British military it is always assumed that a running helicopter is manned!
BTW, Pilots were told where to land by "Buzzard" and it often meant overflying very close to other aircraft. You didn't hang about on the approach, to minimise the risk of an "AK-47 welcome" or worse by the boys from just over the border. No room to pussyfoot about in the hover inside the rocket fence waiting for someone to finish his pee break!
