Maybe this is why the Canadians call VRS and Settling with power 2 completely different things. Could it have actually been settling with power? Just not enough power to arrest the rate of descent once it was noticed?
VRS is used to often IMHO. Its an easy out. Ever tried to get a helicopter into the incipient VRS state? Its not that easy, but everyone seems to blame it for a lot of accidents when 'SWP' would better fit.