I quite agree with SASless: in my company we are discussing possible causes a lot. The result of our talks might not be the reason for the crash the discussion started with, but definitely raises awareness and activates the thought process of everybody involved. It is a learning experience especially for the less-experienced (like myself), but like HeliComparator rightfully said; a lot of older/experienced colleagues might just be a little too laid back at times (and the younger guys just might not know better).
I also agree that blaming and unpreventable, catastrophic failure doesn't help anybody.
An example my boss (long time helicopter and f/w driver - very experienced in the S-76 as well) gave me yesterday:
What happens if both AFCS/SAS go offline/fail during high power cruise?
- due to the elevated T/R, the aircraft will snap into a roll; the unaware pilot will try to correct with opposite cyclic input, rolling the helicopter back through the other side into an upside down nose dive.
- the corrective action for the initial roll would be full left pedal followed by slowing down the aircraft to reduce torque and restore a somewhat flyable helicopter.
My boss said, that he failed the Heliflight e.g. on a few very seasoned guys and due to the fact that it was never taught in the sim almost all of them did not see the T/R as the cause for the roll and would have rolled it straight into the ground.
The above seemed to be a likely explanation, but doesn't go well with the apparent loss of torque/system power CycColl quoted.