I have never flown a blackhawk, or a bell, for that matter. But I do have a LOT of time in military helos in europe and an awful lot of that has been in the mountains. I don't know if the unfortunate crew suffered an engine failure/rundown, or whether they were hit by a dowdraft (Cold slopes make katabatic winds - I've seen them descend at 40 kts). What I do know, is that as soon as I watched the aircraft approach the slope (still under (apparently)full control), I wondered aloud what the pilot thought he was doing. Where was his escape route? He needed to be higher than he was from the survivors (His winch was long enough - I've checked), and his heading needed to be at least 30 deg left of where it was. Yes, I realise that I wasn't there, and that I couldn't possibly know all this for sure, but it was obvious to me. When I went to work (military sqn) one of my fellow drivers said 'Did ya see that blackhawk on the news...was that guy begging to crash or what'. Callous and unfeeling I know, but the sentiment is not lost on me, or others I suspect. I sincerely hope they are all ok, it looked at least like the fuselage stayed together, so fingers crossed.
I expect this will generate some negative comments, but if anyone can learn from this, then good. Mountains Bite, so watch out.