bearfoil:
Totally agree with your point regarding energy dissipation and I suspect another aspect not so obvious is the sand/rock nature of the contact. That would seriously exacerbate the result of the structure hitting the ground.
As for Sunvalley I was confused (and still am) how you draw a similarity between the incidents, aside perhaps from loosing situational awareness perhaps. Anyway, no biggie, cheers indeed.
- GY