AC
In most cases, the pilot would slump forward onto the cyclic, and the aircraft would be 90 nose down before an observer could do much about it. And by then, he couldn't do much about it anyway, even if he was able to move the pilot off the controls long enough to try to fly it.
The point I am making is not that this would work, but the fact they were given control to "try it". Presumably an attempt at a controlled crash would be better than an inflight break up.