Originally Posted by
43Inches
When we stop making out it's some extra feat of glory to achieve a successful forced landing and not just what is just the bog standard expected outcome from what pilots are trained to do, then perhaps the media and others might stop looking for pictures and news of such events. What news would there be if it was just, "oh another aircraft pulled over into a paddock when it had so.".
I agree with all the “hero” talk being a load of crap, even captain Sullenberger with his A320 on the Hudson shouldn’t be given hero status. I’ve always thought of a hero as someone who risks their own life for others, eg entering a burning house to rescue a person/animal etc. These pilots are not exactly risking their lives to perform these “heroic” acts, they are doing their best to save their passengers (and themselves) from a dire situation that they really have no choice but to give it their best shot.
At the same time, we shouldn’t discount a successful forced landing as something that is just a non-event that every pilot should be able to walk away from. Remember that many of Trev’s pilots are 200 hour newbies and many get their CPL by just fluking a PFL or having their testing officer give them another go after a less than perfect first attempt.
Even if everything goes according plan with setting up for a real forced landing, you don’t know what surprises await until you are on short final and essentially committed to the landing. Things like large rocks, rabbit holes, soft surface that you would dig right into. I think any successful forced landing is an amazing achievement whether in an A320 or C172. A heroic act, I don’t think so.