Recently two people were killed not far from here with an oil-covered
windscreen trying to make it to the nearest airport with about 20
miles of level seaside beach well within reach.

I also know a cropduster who easily survived 14 engine failures. He
worked for a guy (he now owns the business) who, it is safe to say,
was not dedicated to maintenance of his aircraft. Since all the
engine failures were over alfalfa fields, there was never any serious
problem.

The point is, there are options besides the NEAREST airport, some of
them a whole lot more desirable. Flying at 500-1000 feet along most
of the eastern seaboard shouldn't be considered any more hazardous
than your next outing among the road -ragers along Interstate 95 in
heavy traffic, if you ask me.



On Thu, 03 Feb 2005 07:38:03 -0500, Ron Natalie
wrote:

So I can't vouch for the relative probabilities of these things, but
I still want to make sure I have the option of the NEAREST airport.