PF1, you're right, mostly. There is nothing at all the FAA can do about customer pressure - it's an administrative agency, with no authority over anyone without a license, & certainly not a law enforcement agency, even if there were a law (which there should be, but never will be). I was just responding to Mars, giving the situation over here. I've been working under it for more than 20 years, & I accept the way it is, but it does take some backbone to keep refusing, until you get used to it, & new guys sometimes cave in. Thus, pilots and passengers keep dying.
As for the darkness thing, both my employer's and the customer's own written policies forbade flying before sunrise or after 30 minutes before sunset. That was clear, but it made no difference to the foreman out in the field who needed just one more flight, or to the hands who were anxious to get home on break day.
I've always made it a policy to work for a company that flies as the main part of its business. Any job for anyone who owns a helicopter as an adjunct to his main business is temporary at best. Profits drop, & the helicopter is the first thing to go. I've seen it happen many times, & I ain't going there willingly.
Again, I have no idea whether any of this applies to the incident which initiated this thread.