Originally Posted by
patowalker
As has been mentioned before, the pilot intended to land on Cova do Vapor beach, which had far less people on it. Unfortunately, he overshot it by about 200 meters.
That may be true, but it's not relevant. Once he realized he was going to overshoot that beach, he still had the option of ditching where he wouldn't hit anyone. I don't know that I'd have the presence of mind to turn into the wind or put it in a forward slip to get down to the first beach, but I would not put it down on top of people when I could just as easily ditch clear of them.