Don't really agree with you here Bob, I think it's more reasonable to assume that the club presumed that whoever was organizing the alternative would organize a safe and legal journey. It's not like putting him in a car which hasn't passed its MOT or even with a driver that's only recently passed their test
I think any non-pilot would assume that no pilot would get into a plane that they didn't feel was airworthy, I certainly did until I heard that recording just now. And it would never have crossed my mind before this incident that an inexperienced pilot would wing it (excuse the wording) in conditions he wasn't qualified to fly in at night over the sea.