Their destination, Buzzard, was 30 n.m. from Peterhead which is probably where they coasted out. It was a clear day so depending on their height they could well have seen their destination at that point. The jackup, where they landed instead of a platform, was nine miles from their destination. Should that have been laterally offset that would mean that they departed offshore with an 18 degrees track error, if it was in line it would have been a 4 minute timing error. Dinosaurs like me were taught that on leaving an en-route point you checked that you were on the right track and the next ETA was as expected. I suppose nowadays the autopilot or FMS are so infallible there is no point in looking out.
There's a saying that an offshore pilot has either landed on the wrong rig or is going to. That's a myth. The only time when it is possibly excusable is during a multi platform shuttle where they fly leg 12 instead of leg 11 which was when it was demonstrated to me. I cannot remember more than one or two occasions where somebody has landed on the wrong installation having departed from a land base and they then got their arse severely kicked.
Since my particular episode I not have only ensured that it was the right helideck but also that the deck crew were present. I have had enough experience of getting deck clearance whilst the deck crew were being mustered.
I'm sorry that this old fogy has to comment like this. Homo Sapiens in it's present form is only 55,000 years old. We dinosaurs lasted for 135 million years. It was not our fault that a chunk of high speed rock decided to create the Caribbean.