Years ago I was sent off to a platform under construction to change over the evening shift. The wind was northerly and the accommodation barge was on the eastern side which made it a LHS landing. The helideck on the main structure was on the north side of the derricks was a RHS landing apart from another barge moored alongside with its cranes up against the western side of the helideck.
I recced both deck as I arrived and as the western crane was too close to the platforms helideck I told my co-pilot that he was going to be busy doing all the landings. He landed on the accommodation barge and I did the take off. I handed over control for the landing on the platform and as expected the deck went out of my sight on the final stages of the approach.
There then followed a long period of hovering and general confusion. I queried this and he stated that he could not manage the landing. I then took over control and pulled in power to clear the installation.
Conversation established that his entire offshore night experience had been four landings on a semisub parked in Aberdeen harbour. On the basis of this he had been line checked and cleared for all night operations. I had not flown with him before and there was no intimation to me as to his lack of experience. In a different circumstance if I had fouled it up he would have no way of knowing as to when we would have passed the point of no return.
Sometimes you're lucky, sometimes you're not.