I had a reply from an ancient Bootneck about the Wessex crash on Hermes. It's wonderful how the web can be used to inform people about incidents from so long ago which have become folklore.
I remember an accident which occurred in June or July 1969 when 41 were embarked on HMS Bulwark for exercises in the Med. We were out there from April to September that year.
We were on a beach near Larnaca, Cyprus, waiting to be taken back to the ship by landing craft after an exercise, when we were told that a Wessex Mk5 had crash landed on the flight deck and that there would be a delay before we could re-embark.
We could see the wreckage from the beach as the ship wasn't too far off the coast. I think I might have a 35mm slide somewhere, taken distantly from the beach, of the incident.
When we got back to the ship we learned that one of the Royal Navy flight deck personnel had been killed by flying rotor blades debris, and a pal of mine, Sharky Ward (Armourer), had narrowly avoided the same fate. He had seen the whole thing and was badly shocked.
It appeared that the Wessex had suddenly lost power and crashed very heavily onto the flight deck. The rotor blades hit the deck and flew in all directions apparently. I don't know if it was lifting, or had lifted, anything at the time.