Hero pilot or selfish pilot ?
Actually , I don't think he falls into either category . But he certainly falls into the category of a guy whose decision making fell in extremely well with the resources that he had available at the time.
Had the beach been full of people , then I'm sure that his actions would probably have been different.
But for that particular aeroplane on that particular day at that particular time , he got it spot-on in my books !
And I applaud him.