I would have thought that all the controls ( aerodynamic ) must have been working in order to hover . I guess that if duals were fitted it would be difficult to get the pax out without interfering with them ...if not he could have just let the pax out before trying to land ? Very strange and a tragic end . As TC has said many people have landed with broken undercarriage / wheels etc by landing on tyres but it appears this was not mentioned and how would they know there was an oleo problem ( if there was one ?) ....i am not sure of any change in the behaviour even if they were faulty .
( I have had G R in one many years ago but that needs contact with the ground ) Baffling ....
Lastly if the throttle was stuck how would they know ? Maybe on approach , but that would mean overspeed and you would then set up for a long and low approach i guess ? Once in the hover just do an engine shut down by pulling the fuel ...that HAS to work and in a 1ft hover you would just need to keep it straight with pedals .... It HAS to be something else ...