For all your bluster F1100 the fact is it did happen, it didn't happen to me, thank God. Since the rig was in a shallow part of the Gulf the platform, on top of a leg, was totally unobstructed and about 100 to 150 feet above the sea, landing into wind assured, I had been on the same operation only a month earlier. The pilot also had several thousand hours on helicopters and had no option other than shutting down, a definate SOP 'no-no' at the time. You have obviously been fortunate, it is not a common practice though, as the posts here show.