I thought the tailboom was still attached until RVDT mentioned it. (Hence re-posting the photo). You can in fact see it (in the dark) in the foreground.
Regarding ditching I was going to say that once the blades contact the water it usually takes less than 5 seconds for even the most vigorous rpm to be stopped (from what I have seen) and just as I was thinking about that HeliHenri (like Zebedee) appeared with this thread:
http://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/504...opacabana.html
So, as long as pax are briefed on getting out of un upturned fuselage (your basic HUET training) they shouldn't really have to worry about blades.
I was taught that if you had to plow in and couldn't keep the aircraft upright you should lean the American helicopters to the right (to rip the transmission backwards away from the cabin) and the opposite for the Froggie aircraft. Is this still taught?
With all the ongoing AS350 incidents my poor B407 vs AS350B3 study is taking a battering - in my mind at least!
