I believe the clostest the Tiger came to disaster was when one landed on the Thistle with a severe 1R vibration. Investigation revealed the the rotor head had cracked in the vicinity of a drag bearing.
Another session of six heads and gearboxes simultaneously airborne in the hangar.
When I joined Bristow I went on to the Puma 330J. To my surprise they still had the old rubber stop for the incllined shaft cover. I had flown the Puma for seven years in the RAF and I pointed out that they had substituted a locking plate to prevent the hinge wire from coming out. I was effectively told to shut up (crab) and it was ignored. A few weeks later one started migrating and was protuding about 15 cm at the end of the flight. A rapid series of phone calls to Odiham and then they all had locking plates.
Fast forward a couple of years. Doogal Douglas (RIP) and I were looking at a shiny new Tiger and we both noticed that there was a rubber bung holding the pin in, albiet a bit bigger. We brought this to the attention of somebody but we were told that this was not a Puma, this was a Tiger. We all know the end of that story.
Don't get me started on the S76A.
Where these days would you get 3 large types in 4 years?
In the begiining of 1984 I was bumbling along on the Tiger fleet when GBHAI, a 330J arrived. They were short of Puma jockeys so I was refammed and flew both. We simplified it by flying the Puma like a Tiger ie. 15.5 degrees of pitch instad of 15. In May they were short of S76 drivers so I was refammed again to help them out so I was current and operating as PIC on three types. In July I airtested and deliverd GBERH from Redhill to Southampton to go to China. That was the last Puma left in the UK so I then went down to two.