Originally Posted By: hatt
Pilot didn't see man, daughter...
Quote:
On Tuesday, Kokomoor issued a prepared statement that was read by the family’s pastor as Kokomoor’s wife and daughter stood by his side. Neither said a word.
"I am deeply, deeply sorry," said Kokomoor through the prepared statement as read by Rev. Victor Willis.
He went on to describe Kokomoor’s need to act fast and rather than trying to land at a part of the beach that was heavily populated, he thought he had landed at the beach where there was no one.
"It was only after we landed and exited the plane did I realize that there were people on the beach,” he said. “I never saw them."
How did you not see people walking on the beach? I'm sure the plane was doing no more than 50-60mph. And had an elevated view. Should have been easy to see for a pretty good distance on open and flat ground.
A lot of surprising things happen to you when the adrenaline hits: tunnel vision, loss of hearing, loss of higher order thinking...panic is an overly simplistic explanation, but stress causes all sorts of cognitive degradation. Happens to pilots often.
I'll bet it happened to him. Not an excuse, an explanation...