Originally Posted by
BusAirDriver
"what next" - So what about the Student pilot? Wasn't he also innocent?
It not a matter of being "innocent" or not. Rather "involved" or not. Every student pilot knows that there is an inherent risk in that activity. Transferring this risk to sunbathers on the beach can not be an option.
Originally Posted by
BusAirDriver
What would people have said if Captain Sully had hit a boat as he tried landing in the Hudson?
That's an interesting question but easily answered. Sullenberger had three options:
1. Try to turn back or land at another airport in the vicinity. This has been done to death in countless simulator sessions and would only have been possible - if at all - if everybody knew in advance what would be happening so they could react instantly. For some reason he discarded this option early in his decision making process.
2. Land between the houses. Guaranteed victims on the ground and victims on the plane as well.
3. Ditch. Possible victims in boats and possible victims on the plane.
So he had to chose between "possible victims" and "guaranteed victims".
In this accidents they had a choice between:
1. Land on the beach. Possible victims on the ground and possible victims in the plane (not every forced landing on soft ground goes without injury).
2. Ditch. Possible victims in the plane. Very remote possibility to hit a swimmer far away (> 50m) from the beach.