Helinut, usual practice in most PASU's up until recently was to hire a loan a/c when main a/c was in for its annual inspection or off line for lengthy repairs. Typically this would be police role equipped Twin Squirrel, flown by the usual PASU pilots under the unit PAOC. In effect it would be business as usual for the boys, but just in a spare a/c.
Most PASU pilots I have ever known are ex RAF / RN / AAC / Bristows etc and are hugely experienced guys, well used to assessing and flying in highly challenging environments. That is why they get the jobs in the first place. We don't know what happened for sure yet, but the ill informed speculation found on here is pointless. As for the darwin awards comment I agree with bladecrack.
The most important thing here is that everyone got out ok.
