A pilot will likely correct me, but when in the Army, I was on a UH-1 that auto rotated to a safe landing. My understanding was the aircraft needed enough altitude so the controlled fall would get the main rotor going fast enough to build inertia so when the ground was approaching pitch could be pulled to soften the landing, if not make a perfect landing. My recollection was the pilot made a combination auto rotation and running landing.
Point is, if this aircraft did not have enough altitude to begin with, or a relatively smooth area to land, it’s toast.
I agree, and I’ve got 30 years of air traffic control experience ( 26+ USAF and 5 FAA ).