Hey fhegner
OK I'll reply.....here is my onions on this sad accident;
The wide cord bladed Huey-Y is a beast with good hot-high performance so it was the common sense & obvious choice to be using this machine over the v22
As for dangers up here?????? What dangers???? ............ Mountain weather & Mountain flying conditions??? That's Standard Operating Procedures everyday for Mountain Pilots. Wind was not blowing much that day (10-12knots) freezing conditions HuH???? It is almost Summer 30º at KTM so around 18º up there. As for thin air????? at just 11,000' hmmmm try Your hand at landing at 23,000' to taste thin air, at least above 17,000' then the thin-air challenge really begins
This sad CFIT accident from what I gather was attributed to low time PIC (900hrs) & CoJo (600hrs) (sourced from the CIO here at the the time) add no real Mountain experience time.........that was the primary cause = 'lacking Mountain experience'. Maybe the guys in charge threw them into the deep end without ensuring those being given the mission had the relevant skills to carry out the same & the poor Pilot's trying to carry out orders just didn't know better, they climbed up towards the descending soup at high speed rather than descending into the river gully & slowing down.....
Rest in Peace Blessed Souls on-board