Not sure that the RAF's Heath-Robinson emergency electrical hoist would have been viable in this situation - a snagged hook, heavily loaded, might well have compromised the integrity of the hoist frame mounting to the fuselage. Also not sure I would like to use a 50 fpm hoist in such conditions, but then the alternative option wasn't that palatable either...
Sadly, for many years multiple SKs off state have hardly been an uncommon occurrence although, by using a politician's approach to maths, needing combined total of 6 SKs and an S-61 to complete a single winching job (yes, I know, it was a pretty serious job) seems somewhat unfortunate. Even more sadly, 'what's going on' has very little to do with the quite astonishing daily efforts of those at the coal face who will have been doing their utmost to change the situation for the better, and no doubt have rather less hair as a result.
Unfortunately it doesn't matter how superlative your standards, training, professionalism, ethos and proactivity are if your helicopters don't work. A fully effective service needs reliable hardware, otherwise the taxpayers simply aren't getting what they are paying for.
Louis