blade strike
tail strike
wires
powerloss due to recirculation
powerloss due to temp, altitude and load
uneven surface
blade damage due to recirculation (sucking
thru blades in confined area)
error during roping
hard landing
nerves
shot down
considering this was the SOAR and SealTeam6 who do nothing else but this type of thing only last option sounds reasonable.
the rest i can not imagine having been overlooked by these kinda guys during the planning stage. further they had ample opportunity to practise this setup under the exact same conditions at the replica they build for exactly this purpose.
what makes most sense thru is that this poor helicopter was never intended to get outa there in the first place. leaves a nice unmistakable footprint and NO doubt as who or what.
imagine what the silly press and folks would make out of this without the dead heli at that site.
this was a great job done (finally) and well planned (down to the dealing with the press and the mob)
RIP helicopter.