Consider this.....the Cougar aircraft hit the water at a fairly high forward speed and the dynamic components "sheared off" from the top of the fuselage (as designed) leaving the fuselage fairly intact and without deformation. I would assume the pilots were not wearing helmets. With an impact that severe....they would have been propelled forward with a very high level of force. The autopsy results would describe the extent of the facial and head injuries they suffered. The extent of those injuries would determine their probability of survival.
I will submit they were incapcitated due to the crash forces and injuries....and probably would not have been much better off had they been wearing helmets. That is an issue that should be addressed in the report.
Salt water gets very hard when hit at high rates of speed and does not give much when hit.
