It is my understanding that the two incidents are not connected.
Again, it is my understanding that mishandling (or should that be handling!) of the aircraft when coupled led to the Cougar incident.
To answer Zalt's question, the only 'standard' AP coupling mode that will work in a non-SAR machine below 50 knots IAS is RadAlt. Any roll or pitch coupling will "decouple" when the aircraft is decelerated through 50 knots.