As an A&P anon I will put in my 2 cents on the Kobe Bryant crash. This helicopter had a max cruise speed of 178mph which is also it's VNE, Velocitey Never Exceed yet reports are saying that the AC hit the ground at 161 knots or 185 mph. Now, if the pilot is feeling his way around in the fog how does he hit the ground at 185mph. A human being in an aerodynamic dive can't go that fast in free fall. A helicopter has way too much wind drag to hit that speed in free fall. Furthermore, helicopters almost never crash with much forward velocity at all. Watching a few YouTubes will show you how they usually crash.

https://pagesix.com/2020/01/27/kobe-bryants-helicopter-was-flying-dangerously-low-before-fatal-crash/

https://www.flugzeuginfo.net/acdata_php/acdata_s76b_en.php

>>7933141

Very unlikely the pilot flew into the ground at that speed unless it was deliberate.

>>7933141

The only other way that this AC might hit the ground at that speed is if it had lost it's main rotor completely, as in a mid-air collision. Then it might become aerodynamic enough to plummet at that velocity. Helis are not know for losing their main rotors otherwise. Flight recorder data would be the only way they could know the speed on impact as the AC was off of the radar.