I have never claimed to be an expert, All I have said is the propensity of the dual rotor helicopter to crash was higher in my personal experience. Yes, it was the most prolific vehicle at the airstation. And maybe my stepfather and I both witnessed nothing more than a bubble, and perhaps the marines and navy personel's mythos regarding the helicopter is incorrect.
I find the odds of any helicopter surviving Sam/Sidewinder or other other missle strike without going down dubious at best. I am sure it has happened, but I would bet you statistically you are in better shape of winning the lottery. I have seen photos from every scene my stepfather had to visit, many in NC, some in Cali and some in Va... with 1 exception, which involved an collision, they were all dual rotor.
I don't claim to know why, or how... I am just saying that was my personal experience, nothing more. I firmly believe they were shot down in Afghanistan and so really don't know why all this hubub is going on anyway.
You fell victim to one of my pet peeves. As the H47 has the best safety record in the Army, so too does the H46 in the Marine Corps. These are the facts, and they can not be disputed. The Navy has had better luck with the H60 than the Army, but the records are the same. The H46 has fewer mishaps per flight hour than anything else. You'd have to be on the inside and witness just how much of the "load" is carried by these planes to understand why that is true. Their safety record is nothing short of amazing considering the condition some of them are in.
Can you prove that more H46s have crashed than anything else??? Probably. But I can prove that more Honda Accords were involved in crashes than Bentleys. What does that prove? Simple. There are more of them on the road.