IF it had ditched during the transition from a committed situation
Hmmm. Had the flyaway not worked, the ditching would have happened pretty quickly (within 5-10 secs of commencing the flyaway). The forward speed achieved by the aircraft in the first 5-10 secs of a flyaway would be pretty modest, so a ditching at low speed is presumably going to be rather similar to a vertical ditching from the hover. Therefore no grounds for condemnation...