by Greg Farris farris@[EMAIL PROTECTED] Apr 19, 2006 at 09:40 AM


What amazes me is that people never tire of lamenting how bad it "could
have
been". Small planes crash every day, and by now we know what the result
is.
And it's bad enough too - we have to keep working to maintain the
improvement
we've already registered. But - "if everything had been different from
what
it really was" if for some reason this particular one had been unlike the

last thousand or so, then just think of how bad it could have been...

"If the playing field had been swarming with kids that day..." Of course
no
one stops to think that in the mind of a pilot, looking for a spot to put
it,
"a field swarming with kids" does not have the same value as " a large,
empty
field". There may be an element of luck in that there were no injuries,
but....

GF




And how is this different from the "what could have been" statements made
by the reporters concerning the plane that crashed into an empty school
field?

AOPA, on the UAV crash:

"This crash highlights the safety concerns we've voiced all along," said
Andy Cebula, AOPA executive vice president of government affairs. "The FAA
should not permit UAV operations until they are certified to the same level
of safety as manned aircraft.

"Thankfully, in this accident no one in the air or on the ground was hurt.
But just think that if a pilot had been flying legally under the TFR and
the UAV hit the aircraft from behind and above — the pilot would have had
no chance to see and avoid the uncontrolled UAV."