Originally Posted by
PiperCameron
1. It would appear from his bio and the ATC audio that this pilot was not a novice and had a good understanding of the extent of damage to his aircraft.
2. From FR24 it seems the majority of his flight (a) was over water towards the city, (b) was in constant contact with ATC, and (c) did not "overfly the city" at any time.
3. YMEN is the home base for this aircraft and the pilot is familiar and comfortable with the airport environment there, with support services for his aircraft readily available.
4. YMEN also has emergency services available and a long enough runway for this aircraft to land on.
Just because something "might fall off the aircraft" is no reason for him to choose a comparatively unfamiliar airport with regular passenger operations and no support services, miles away from help. No, YMEN was as good (or better) as anywhere for him to go.
The home factor is critical. Don't forget that in addition to the damage to the aircraft, the guy had just witnessed the assumed death of a good friend. In addition to support for the aircraft, I'm pretty sure all of us would want to get into the support of loved ones ASAP too.