5N-AQW and the wires
I was actually meant to go on that airtest; it was a quick whiz around the block after a swashplate & scissors change (when engineers were allowed to do such things), but there was delay for some reason so I made a cup of tea and ARK went instead. The take off was normal but the circuit was low and fast, disappearing behind the Grand brewery on the downwind leg. They were wazzing down the river to the east of the IA and hit the static line of the power lines running along side the railway bridge. I watched (fascinated) from the engineering office door as the aircraft reared up, yawing violently left and right before disappearing again behind the tree line about a mile and a half to the east.
Matt Ward and I cranked up JU and went over there, getting in underneath the wires in the picture. I jumped out and waded 50-odd yards through 3-4 feet of mud and water and found both of them still strapped in but both seats had 'stroked' and then collapsed. They were both in a lot of pain but I didn't dare try to get them out for fear of further injuring their backs; quite apart from which, there was nowhere to put them. 'JU came back a few minutes later with a doc from the Shell Med centre and we got them out and on to stretchers. He didn't give them anything before we moved them in case they needed surgery so it got pretty noisy for a while. The floats had been blown manually by the pilot (whose name escapes me) in an effort to cushion the impact although I'm not sure it would have made much difference. That said, I'm quite sure going into the water saved their lives.
The static line they hit had passed between the pitot tubes and the wx radome. The wire broke about half a mile to the left where they hit it and as they continued moving forward, the cable effectively sawed through the nose until it came up against the battery otherwise it would probably have continued 'sawing'. IMHO, if things had stayed that way they'd have probably gotten away with it but as the broken end of the cable came to the aircraft it took out the tail rotor and the TGB departed.
As SASless has said, the I-beams were poking up through the cabin floor and the transmission mounts had sheared allowing the whole assy to tilt forward 20 degrees or so.
The ac was recovered to the IA later that day by which time my tea was cold (but just where I'd left it). I went home, had a couple of large whiskies and considered the effect that apparently minor decisions have on our lives.
I have a video somewhere of the wreckage; I'll try to dig it out and post it.