BOBAKAT:
I am from another school.....
For me, Steep approach mean lot of power available AND when you begin your speed reduction to land, your are "High", no power applied and very vulerable if anything happen.
Per sample : if the freewheel goes wrong at this time...your are ****** .
Bobakat, I'm not exactly sure what you are getting at here. I don't know what you're teaching, but if *my* freewheeling unit or input drive shaft (or engine, or tail rotor) fails, I'd rather be steep with a little airspeed than shallow and slow. Autorotations (and by extension flat-pitch approaches) have been demonstrated in every certified helicopter at maximum gross weight. It does not take Chuck Aaron to perform this maneuver.
As it was lifted out of the water, the blades of the Hawaii 206 look absolutely undamaged, meaning that they were certainly not under power and turning very slowly when they hit the water. Considering that we hear the tail rotor turning at 100% rpm or perhaps more all the way through the descent, it indicates a disconnect between the main and tail rotors. *Something* very mechanically bad happened to that helicopter.