‘They crash a little more’…!
I think you need to be a little more specific with your stats. Let’s start with public-transport helicopters versus public-transport fixed-wing aircraft. I’m not interested in private aviation; that’s amateur hobbyists playing at it, with all the variability of talent, knowledge and skill that that implies. I’m not saying public transport helicopters are unsafe, but they are far short of public transport fixed wing in any sensible safety analysis.
Yeah, sure, if you exclude GA and airliners will be safer...but again, if helicopters flew like airlines, they would be pointless and might as well be..well, airlines.
Now, how would you rate your survivability chances of a forced landing away from any airfields?
Non-GA helicopters crash more due to the type of work they do. They only real fixed equivalent would be fixed wing crop dusting/aerial firefighting.
Me? I'm all in favour of nice big aerofoils rivetted, welded, nailed, glued or even tied into place. The glide angle may not be great on anything other than a sailplane, but I'd trust that sooner than auto-rotate or whatever the last-ditch please-don't-let-me-die manouevre is that they pull with helicopters.
The big difference is that unlike a fixed wing that needs a minimum speed in order to not crash and cannot go below that speed until it well, hits the ground, in a helicopter you can virtually eliminate the speed just prior to impact. I have practiced both in airplanes and helicopters and still much prefer helicopters. Even if you to crash into a forest/hillside/etc, at least you have the option of reducing the initial impact to a minimum, something that you can't in an airplane.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqy_cWcwI48Now, helicopters, do though, have many more ways of trying to kill you and can do so in an instant, so you do have to be a lot more vigilant.
He will not take anyone up for a joy ride in a helicopter. He will take them up in a light aircraft.
That's a professionals opinion of the relative safety of helicopters versus fixed wing.
Did he have access to a helicopter that he could take people for joyrides in?. For the same cost as doing it in a light airplane?