On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 14:46:46 GMT, "Dudley Henriques"
dhenriques@noware .net wrote:

As cruel as it sounds, you are quite right in my opinion about the "save the
kids in the schoolhouse" theory. I lost a friend in an F86 that had the same
media presentation associated with the crash. It's so common that it's
actually a known issue among professional pilots, and to many of us
represents a disservice to a pilot by tagging him with a story his
associates or anyone with half a brain knows to be untrue!

I heard the media praising the pilot of a Stealth Fighter that lost an
aileron during an air show (a few years ago) and the airplane suffered
severe flutter and broke up. The pilot ejected and the airplane
wafted down looking like a big falling leaf. No one was injured and
the media claimed it was because the pilot skillfully avoided the
crowd.

Anyone seeing that flight would know that once the airplane began
loosing parts, the pilot became a passenger. It reared up and stopped
flying almost instantly. The pilot ejected immediately.

Corky Scott