The NTSB Preliminary report for the helicopter that crashed whilst trying to rescue the downed gyro pilot has some interesting insight into this attempted rescue as follows ( the Preliminary for the AR-1 N463JW itself has yet to appear on NTSB )
"The pilot was dispatched to provide aerial support for a gyroplane that made a forced landing in a phosphate pit and gypsum pond. The pilot stated that foliage in the gypsum pond was about 6-9 ft tall and the gyroplane pilot was standing on his seat holding onto the rotor blades. The pilot considered that the gyroplane and pilot could sink into the gypsum at any time and attempted to rescue the gyroplane pilot by having him grab the right skid of the helicopter to lift him to safety. The pilot anticipated that when the gyroplane pilot grabbed the skid, he would have to compensate for the change in the helicopter's center of gravity (CG). The gyroplane pilot tried twice to grab the skid, but his hands were covered in mud and gypsum and he was unable to grip the skid.
The pilot said that on the third attempt, the gyroplane pilot had repositioned himself closer to the helicopter's skid and, "Without hesitation and without warning, [the gyroplane pilot] jumped up in the air towards my skid, grabbing the skid in the air, causing his entire weight to be forced onto my skid. This immediately changed my CG in an instant. This action not only caused my aircraft to descend, but an abrupt and violent roll towards the starboard side." The pilot immediately increased collective to prevent striking the gyroplane with the helicopter's skid, but the "roll was tremendous and without warning." The pilot tried to push the cyclic forward to increase speed and lift, but there was no response and the helicopter continued to roll to the right and impacted the gypsum pond, which resulted in substantial damage to the main rotor blades, tail rotor, and the tail boom.""