JimL et al
I am just sitting here thinking that all this 'science' is for nought if you are TIBMIN sitting in the hover at 40-50 feet when the donkey stops you are not going to be able to do much if mass is much greater than OEI hover.
Sea states unsuitable for ditching are more often than not associated with stronger winds thus the window for forced ditching is reduced - how much we can only guess but we may be arguing about a remote possibility. Put that alongside the possibility of an unsatisfactory ditching due to excessive nose down on contact (blade strike > rollover) and the waters are muddied.
What happens to the rad alt reading with an attitude change of up to 30 degrees?
Maybe adequate rehearsal in the sim is a smart move but no-one has yet tabled a request to me for such an exercise but the OEI at TDP on a helipad vertical has got to be close.
G.