I don't wish to deflect the discussion too much away from the accident,
Agreed, however I should have posted the link:
TCDS
Issue Date Changes
Issue 01 27 July 2004 Initial Issue; EC225LP model type certification
Issue 02 21 April 2006 Legacy Models added (SA330 and AS332)
Before 21 April 2006 the 330 and 332 were on a DGAC Type Certificate and TCDS.
I wouldn't read too much into the lineage of certification, as it is quite common. Sikorsky have done it with the S76 family. Boeing have done it with extensively with the B737 and B747 models.
Agreed.
Anyone who treats 330/332/225 as one type should also treat it's service experience as one type (arbitrarily looking no further back than 2009, say, is just being disingenuous).