Firstly - don't blame the neighbourhood residents from getting upset, they had something extraordinary happen in their lives and do not understand the first thing about what happens at a local airfield other than what they see and hear. The first response of course will be "how can we stop this from occurring again?.. I know shut down the airport." A typical kneejerk reaction that is fuelled on by the shameful media - they are the real bad guys here.
We, as passionate aviators who most likely lived and breathed aviation as a kid, need to stop speculating and complaining about their ignorance - its not their fault. Last time I checked, circuits 101 wasn’t covered at school. We instead need to educate them and the media; admittedly this is hard to do when the media know what makes a good story and not fact.
Their community would be far worse off without the jobs and business that a local airport generates. Added to that, how many of these people enjoy the sub $100 airfares around the country and then complain that they have to spend money on parking or a cab because the airport is so far away. But does anyone actually point this out to them? No we just label them as ignorant idiots and how is that going to change??
And as mentioned on an earlier post - the airport was there first. These residents thought at some stage 'I know I'm buying close to an airport but it is safe - right??" So a tragedy has occurred and temporarily changed that view for them - we need to ensure they believe it is safe again. After all, living on the coast - there is a risk of a tsunami right??
I am not going to speculate on what happened but as someone once told me "believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see."
As an ex GAAP flight instructor I will say this. GAAP's are a great safe training environment; sure sometimes things sometimes get hectic but statistically the system works and mistakes get caught and then on VERY rare occasions something tragic happens.
People always liken aviation accidents it to road fatalities - it needs to be pointed out that a fender bender in aviation is most likely going to turn into a fatality - when you think of that, aviation is truely VERY safe statistically. How many fender benders are there on the road per day??
Trainee pilots learn a lot very quickly is the environment, the ATC guys do a great job the instructors ensure that a student is 110% ready before being sent solo and you can't always predict what the traffic is going to be like 5 mins after you hop out of the aircraft and waive them off. In any event situational awareness is a major component of flight training so they can handle it otherwise we don't send them.
I agree talking about a tradgedy such as this helps us understand the issues in play and helps ensure that they are limited from reoccuring. However less negativity and more education is needed in this forum, and no name calling or making it into a speculative witch hunt of the innocent.
I commend the PA28 guy for making a landing with the stabiliser in the state that it was - this was truly a miraculous landing.
To the instructor who sent the student pilot solo - I really feel for you, I have had a few scares in aviation but my true fear was, what has happened to you, might someday happen to me and one of my students. We have to trust in the syllabus and checks we conduct. If he met the criteria why wouldn't you have sent him? It was an accident that could have happened to any instructor you were not at the controls and his fate was his own.
And of course my condolences to the student pilot and his family.
So do everyone a favour next time you talk about your near miss or aviation mishap - take the extra time to explain to the non-aviator what systems were in place that saved you.
Next time you hear someone complain about the airport or loud aircraft; point out all the good things in their life that they have because of them, e.g. emergency services, life saving transplants, ability to travel to see loved ones quickly and relatively cheaply, express courier services, shark spotting, firefighting, crimefighting or that memorable holiday (the list goes on and on). It's these things that the guys are pouring their blood, sweat and tears into a career for the community.
Be safe
and I hope this sort of tragedy will not occur again for a very long time.