MY favorite piece of misunderstood, yet factual, information:

"A flight plan was not filed"

An aeronautical engineer that I know believed that this tidbit was
evidence of incompetence in an accident that caused the death of a close
friend of hers... (skydiver vs airplane in NY a few years back.


Jim Burns wrote:
A practical purpose doesn't exist. It's only a feel good compromise to
settle the uninformed but very vocal critics while stopping short of closing
the VFR corridors or banning flying under Class B shelves. I am repeatedly
amazed at the ignorance of the uninformed aviation critics when it comes to
the words "controlled" and "ATC". I am equally amazed when, after forcing a
change in the name of safety, that these same people seem satisfied whether
the change actually contributes to an increase in safety or not. They
simply want their voices heard, their names in print, and their faces on
TV... it makes them feel important and that they have accomplished
something. They care little about the effectiveness or appropriateness of
the change.