I admit that I have it easier to keep up with the details covered in german news as a native speaker, but @AS, youīre absolutely right.
Itīs a small gap between "flying hyds off in an AS350 in poor weather is hard" to "they had horrible weather and their hydraulics were off" and some like to criss-cross it regularly.
Facts:
There was a police exercise "nearby". They chose to fly over water rather than over land to avoid.
This is all the influence this exercise had on this flight.
Weather in the area was CAVOK. Copenhagen is not even near and therefor not a contributing factor in the accident.
SAR Sea King and several ships were on scene quickly but didnīt find anything.
The initial report of a SARBE near Fehmarn was false.
Both bodies were discovered 50 m away from the wreck. The wreck was found by a german minehunter. The bodies were found by police (?) divers.
Initial inspection by the BFU (german accident investigation branch) pointed towards a tail rotor drive shaft failure.
That is it. Everything else is speculation and guesswork.
And by the way: Iīve flown the AS350 BB (single hydraulic system) hyds off on almost every dual sortie during DHFS, it is very manageable if you practice it.
Tom