Originally Posted by
Kulwin Park
"IF" fuel was critically low, wouldn't the pilot elect to land at that jetty when the fuselage crashed, or opt to inflate the skid fitted float bags, and just land safely on the water or the jetty? (maybe experienced pilots could comment)
I can't see why you would risk losing an aircraft for another 3 minutes flying back to base when there was other landing options. All this is speculation based on the low fuel theory presented.
Kulwin Park: If you took the time to see my above post, you would see that Fuel WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN AN ISSUE...
It simply appears that the pilot requested that he might need re-fueling on landing, as one assumes he had another flight.