Bob Noel wrote:
In article ,
Jim Logajan wrote:

Bob Noel wrote:
I hope Kerry, or anyone else, doesn't think the pilot needed their
blessing to exercise his authority as PIC.

Kerry explicitly said "...So the pilot exercised his judgment...."

I believe Kerry has a commercial certificate. Likewise instrument,
glider, and seaplane ratings. And has flown since 1966.

I'm pretty sure he understands who had PIC authority and nothing in
the story suggests otherwise.

"So the pilot exercised his judgment that we were better off putting
down there, and we all agreed."

I guess it depends on the way you parse and emphasize the words. To
me the "we all agreed" (assuming it's actually a quote) implies
agreement *prior* to landing.

Not much to parse, IMVHO. The PIC appears to have asked his passengers for
their opinions, which is his perogative as PIC. If the statement had read
"So the pilot exercised his judgment that we were better off putting down
there, even though we all disagreed," it would (hopefully) have more
clearly indicated Kerry knew who was in charge of the flight.