None of you mentioned that.
Actually, I did.
In the world of electronics, one usually has an opportunity to remove the component and reinstall it while seated comfortably at the bench, unless one is not versed in one's craft and goes around installing components into energized circuits.
In the world of night helicopter SAR (of which I only have a couple decades of experience) the do-over is frequently not an option.
I suspect that Mr. McCollough of Bell (since you're bandying his name about so freely) might even concede that a laden SAR aircraft alighting upon a slope of unknown pitch just might exceed its slope limitations settling upon the struts at night, upon which the prudent course of action would be to remain in place.
I have 4000 hours of experience in the very type (and indeed probably a few hundred hours in the very airframe) these pilots were flying and yet I don't feel sufficiently informed to second-guess any of their actions.
But yet you do?
