This thread probably needs to be split into two: the discussion about this incident and operations in VFR; and, another on the important issue of why the scan of a helicopter pilot differs from that of his fixed-wing cousin.
In a recent RAeS presentation of eye-scanning, it was shown that some helicopter pilots (both experienced and not-so-experienced) were not using the AH as the fulcrum of their scan for flight in IMC. It is important to see this not as a fault on their part but as an issue that needs to be understood.
Jim