The owner of the company was interviewed on CH7 news last night and from what I understand he said it was an engine failure, and through training and skill of the pilot to get the helicopter on the ground whilst avoiding the power line and various other obstacles in the way. It was only because of the unsuitable terrain that the aircraft rolled over.
From the audio it sounds to me as if the rotor rpm was rapidly decaying just prior to impact, and the engine kept running at idle after impact. But from the video taken from the helicopter it is quite evidently rotating rapidly to the right and descending almost vertically, which to me is symptomatic of a sudden onset loss of directional control at low airspeed.
What got my attention is the violence of the roll-over after the helicopter made contact with the ground, and the main rotor departing the scene, which together with the relative un-crash-worthiness design of the B206 (particularly the seats), makes the relative lack of injuries sustained by those on-board quite remarkable. Very lucky...
BTW I think this is the 3rd prang for Ch10 since they have been operating a helicopter from Dianella (VH-AZH and VH-AZN?, but under a different operator). I don't recall Ch7 or Ch9 having an accident before.
Last edited by gulliBell; 21st Jan 2013 at 01:27.