The provision of floats, liferaft and lifejackets may not be required by the prevailing regulations for this particular helicopter but that does not mean they're prohibited. Whatever happened to common sense? If you're operating a single-engine helicopter low and slow over water - regardless of the distance from shore - don't you need to consider all possibilites. This helicopter was clearly within autorotative distance from shore but its height, due to its proximity of the helipad, was of no use to the pilot.
So far, only 'golfyankeesierra' in his Post #27 seems to have grasped this.