Obviously this is tragic & lets hope that an investigation shows that the poor hapless pilot did a fine damn job of avoiding a crowded beach for an emerg ldg. What really gets me after this type of event happens is the general public are out in force. Ban light planes from flying along a beach low level, this I've heard already. A couple of non aviation people I know last night said to me those ultralights are dangerous. Now the question is does this particular plane come under the cat of Ultralight? Yes it does as far as the law makers go but it's far more a real plane tham some rag & tube contraption powered by not much more than a lawn mower engine. A metal plane with a a Conty engine in it doesn't to me come under the heading of 'ultralight'. From the publics perception ALL light planes are Ultralights & therefore are dangerous
Now as a side note & this is just a thought. Perhaps the ballistic recovery shute system ought to be made more available to ultralights/light planes. This type of A/C most likely would not have been able to be fitted with one but had it been able too would from a low height & deployed perhaps given the pilot a better chance to say ditch?
I like the concept, but it's not commonly used at the moment.
Wmk2