It seems like this category of certification needs to be reevaluated. I think a lot of people, who pay to ride on aircraft certified in this category, assume these aircraft, and the pilots that fly them, meet a higher standard of safety than they are actually required to meet.
I have a good friend who was flown into hot zones many times to engage in firefights: he’s not interested in flying in a Huey again.
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the 412 is powered by the Pratt and Whitney Canada twin-pack power plant with two turboshaft engines.
… records the lowest in-flight shut-down rates of aircraft turboshaft engines. If one engine is shut down, a single engine can produce emergency power for 30 minutes.
A 50 + year old helicopter is safe if;
I too flew HUEYs in Viet Nam (Dustoff 11 9/68-9/69) and taught the transition course at Mother Rucker for 14 months after. I also had an un airworthy H model at East Coast Aero Tech A&P school outside Boston. As an instructor I would demonstrate turbine engine runs and helicopter control systems. It is one of the great aircraft of all time. Like anything else, poor maintenance will cause anything to fail.
A great book - and my buddy at the American Legion flew ‘slicks’ along the same routes, a year or two later.
[My cred with him was bumped up a notch or two after I told him I’d read it.]