I'm not buying much of these speculations about how this highly qualified, proficient and safety conscious pilot blew into a fog layer and lost control of his helicopter. Without a CVR, there will never be proof of pilot incapacitation or a system failure, so we'll have to wait for the forensic data from the wreckage (if there can be any) to lend a clue to what happened.
An S-76B with nine people aboard has plenty of power reserve to fly slowly or climb aggressively, which would have been the two conditions needed to deal with a loss of visual reference, or DVE event. Yeah, it's a shocking and disorienting event, losing visual contact with the surface and terrain, but recovery is fairly uncomplicated and once committed, there is nothing else to do but fly the aircraft, climb and go somewhere with an instrument approach and enough weather to get on the ground...
I guess I'm taking this personally, since I've spent so many thousands of hours in exactly this environment- low and slow in terrible weather with a good chance of losing ground contact. I know what I would have done and there is no shame in calling it quits when the conditions are no longer acceptable.
Add all the idiotic media "reporting" of this tragedy and I am getting pretty aggravated. Time for a drive and a strawberry malt. See ya!