I recommended a steep approach such that a failure would leave the option of a successful autorotation, which is perfectly manageable within the recommended HV in the JetRanger Flight Manual.
On three occasions that I've had engine difficulties followed your steep approach methodology
John. Basically a power on auto, if the power is available at the bottom, good, if not, you get to complete a real auto. On the first two occasion it wasn't available, on the third it was.
That the approach chosen was too shallow is apparent from the flight path after the failure. Dragging a helicopter in to a landing spot on the backside of the power curve severely limits your options when Something Nasty Happens.
Regarding his low approach, perhaps he had reason to think pending MGB failure, and wanted to keep it low
John. You may remember the Wessex that went into the water off Golden Beach. Kept it low due unusual high freq, and ultimately the MGB spat a gear out the side of the case, and removed a cyclic jack in the process. Aircraft rolled inverted at their 60' cruise height and entered the water. We rescued them with a fixed float 205 by landing on the water and pulling the survivors aboard.