Mitchaa,
The gearbox may well have ruptured. Lets just say If the suspension bar failed and caused the rotor to pitch forwards, the stresses imposed on the gearbox would have fractured the gearbox housing for sure. Even when the conical housing failed the remaining suspension bars would have kept the rotor mast splines in engagement for a short time before the struts finally failed releasing the rotor head. During this time the engines would be preventing the gearbox from pitching forwards and the side load on the epicyclic module would be extremely high. It is entirely possible that the epicyclic module casing could have been a secondary failure releasing parts. The primary cause however would be suspension bar failure.
I am still of the opinion that because of the absence of the Conical housing this is a Suspension Bar failure. AH must be sure its not an epicyclic failure also before making such a bold statement as they have done as it is pretty much Reputational suicide if they are wrong! Thats what makes me believe that maybe they are right in this instance. Its not the same failure as G-REDL in my humble opinion..... for all that is worth.
I am eager to hear what the crash report says on this one.
Time will tell.