How on earth can something like this happen, doesn't this operator have some sort of "off-airfield" approach procedure? (like an offshore ARA), ie with a defined approach minima? (eg 200 ft) Or do they just make it up as they go along?
Probably not, and likely yes. The company for which I worked wasn't interested in SOP's for sites such as this, so once one pilot had pushed his luck it was even more difficult for the next pilot to refuse if he considered similar conditions to be unsafe. Commercial pressure and "satisfying the customer" often ranked far above basic flight safety in operations such as these; perhaps nothing has changed since I had to give it up. A Chief Pilot responsible for flight safety but rewarded according to the profit of the commercial operation ....now how can that be done without a conflict, and why is it allowed by the authority?