Plod,
Please? GOM pilots are Men of Iron! The Women too!
Back in history, a current Bristow Pilot then flying for a Houston based operator, did the same kind of thing.....the pax jettisoned a cabin window and the aircraft flew for several months with a piece of plywood in place for the missing window.
Please note the aircraft remained in operation without missing a revenue flight....including the one during which the event occurred. But then one had to know something about a guy named Felton Baker to understand that kind of thing.
I actually did half an interview at that place. We got interrupted by a phone call...I was told to take a half hour coffee break....walked out into the maintenance hangar....quickly ascertained what was going on...and legged it at a high rate of knots.
A few years later....I observed an engineer taking a hack saw to a rotor blade....cutting it in half mid-span....when asked...his reply was simply "This is one scrap blade Felton Baker ain't gonna get to use."
One is left to form one's own opinion about that operator.
At least Air Log will take the proper actions to ensure the aircraft is safe to fly.....investigate the mishap and take some action to prevent it from happening again.