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I had this very thing happen 5-6 years ago. I was lead, A1 from a trap at baseline/corner on my side threw the ball by out to the top of the key. It went WAY over the intended recipients head and into the backcourt where A3 retrieved the ball unhindered. It was a very obvious backcourt call to everyone in the gym except my partner. He didn't know where or how the ball got there or who had touched it last since he was not watching my corner. I mentally debated whether I should call it or not. I chose to not call it.
I was being evaluated by someone I trusted. We talked about it after the game. His take was that I should have called it....as was my partner's. This was a call that requires knowledge from both officials primaries to get right but one official (the trail) was the only person in the gym that wouldn't have the needed info if they're working proper mechanics....and my partner was.
The lead, who was in position to see the entire play could recognize that the pass as it left the hands of A1 was heading into the backcourt and be ready to assist the trail if they do not call the obvious violation.
The mechanics are a strong guide, not a rule. They're designed to cover almost all of the stuff that can happen in a game....the most common stuff. When something goofy happens on the court, the mechanics may not be designed to cover the situation. In this case, the backcourt coverage mechanic is designed for 99.99% of the cases where all the action happens in the trail's area or at least near the trail's area where the trial may have a reasonable view of what happened.
A far more common but less problematic situation is when A1, who is near the trail official's and the sideline and is under heavy pressure, passes the ball towards A4 who is posting up on the blocks. But, due to the pressure, the pass goes wide and OOB on the endline. The lead, who has crossed the lane to cover the post action, calls the violation since it is clear that it went OOB but the will often not know if the ball was tipped or not since it focus was through the lane and not towards the trail officials. The trail official has the info and makes the call once the lead requests help.
The backcourt situation doesn't have this natural stopping point to ask for the help.
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