Where lies the real risk?
I get more and more the impression, that we are not that good a judging risks. All of our flight instructors hammered the same old stories in our brains. Be aware of the engine failure! Only, the risk of having an engine failure is rather low. Especially in an R44 or in the big ships. Hitting something is the main reason for accidents today. Pilots all over the world are half of their flying time inside the dead mans curve and they do not fall from the skies like flies. Far from it. I can not remember an engine failure in Switzerland, but we had quite a few accidents for other reasons. Hitting things and bad full down autos rank pretty high. (No, there is one exception, HB-XKE had a double engine failure, but the pilot accidentely turned them off).
Therefore, if there are always the same voices that tell you:"Oh my good, if you have an engine failure in that situation, you are in deep trouble!" give them a smile and point them to the statistics. If you fly low, FIRST think about hitting something. And that's a risk you can manage. It is inherently more dangerous than flying high, but it's up to you, how much risk you take.
On the other hand, our brasilian friend should loose his ticket as soon as possible for his own safety.