On a different line of enquiry, perhaps someone might confirm the a/c heading was roughly north at impact?
The AAIB says they'd come in from the direction of Bargeddie, i.e., on a track of roughly 280, which would pass close to the accident site en-route GCH. I presume that's one of the standard routings inbound?
If the impact heading reflects any forward movement during the final descent, that would represent a considerable right turn at some point. If it was an autorotation descent on a northerly track, the south-west corner of the much taller building on their right would have been in very close proximity. Could that have affected the Rad-Alt, as someone was speculating earlier? The RA must have some cone of search, which is likely to be fixed in relation to the a/c structure. It would be relevant to know how wide that cone is, and if it is biassed forwards.
The sudden appearance of that massive roof on the right-hand side might in itself have cued a premature (with 20/20 hindsight) flare from an autorotation.
The AAIB states:
Preliminary examination showed that all main rotor blades were attached at the time of the impact but that neither the main rotor nor the fenestron tail rotor were rotating
As far as I can remember, any suggestion that the main rotor was stationary during the descent originated only from witness(es). I infer no hard evidence that the a/c fell from (say) 500 ft with a stationary main-rotor (stalled or otherwise), unless and until the investigators' assessment of VS at impact indicates it. If that should prove to be the case, however, I accept that the heading at impact would be random.
PS
Lonewolf_50,
I think the less this accident has in common with AF447 the better, particularly any HF aspects...
