When I worked in Abu Dhabi in the mid 70's I read an interesting article about hypothermia research. Up until the mid 70's the only real research on hypothermia had been done by the Nazi's in WW2. The University of Vancouver did modern research and determined the areas of the body that were most vunerable to heat loss. Out of the research came the Thermo-float jacket. It looks like a ski jacket but is made or neoprene and has a pair of shorts that can be unfolded.
Fast forward a couple of years, and I'm flying my little 206 100 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico with the temperatures in the 30's and I'm thinking, I need one of those jackets. When I finally got ahold of one I wore it when temps got cold, and it was wonderful since the 206's had no heat. A little problem though. Temps would be in say the 30's and by noon the temps would be pushing 60. That's the gulf. Needless to say the jacket was way too warm and off it came. Still I carried it for many years until I sort of outgrew it and flew twins full time.
I once asked Carry Howard, who was Mobile Oil's helicopter guy about their policy on survival suits. He told me the policy was if you flew in a latitude above about Philadelphia you needed one, south of that you didn't. Pretty general policy.
Today's high was in the mid 60's and by Sunday the temps will be back in the 70's. Like it or not, its tough to push cold weather survival in the gulf. I would suggest the Thermo-float type jackets. Interesting footnote for those who knew Dar. He tried a business in the early 80's selling the Thremo-float jackets. He called it SOS - Spalty Offshore Survival. Didn't work. He not only couldn't interest the operators, he couldn't sell any of them to the pilots, they weren't interested.
It will be interesting the see the facts of this tragic accident, whether hypotermia play a part. In the meantime, for those who are concerned, don't wait for the industry or the operators to solve the problem, solve it yourself.