Sam Spade writes:

Had it been good weather the tank would have stood out like a sore
thumb. No one, except someone trying to commit suicide, would have
flown into that tank with its lighting when it was visible.

Oh yes, some people would. If they were stupid enough, they would.
If this pilot knew about the tank and had been warned about it and
actually knew how to fly, he would not fly into the tank, visibility
or not. And if he were too stupid to do that, he'd fly right into it
even in the clearest weather imaginable.

It's not the he flew deliberately into a tank, it's that he was too
dumb to know that he could not avoid hitting the tank. Being able to
see the tank would not have helped in that case.

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