Dan Luke wrote:

"Ace Pilot" wrote:
The lack of good judgment in this
accident is what drew the condemnation of the aviation community, in
my opinion.

Uh, that was my point: there was a chorus of pilots howling about what a
stupid decision JFK made, as if they would NEVER do such a thing. One
frequently sees that type of rationalization in these newsgroups. Most
pilots believe that their judgement is vastly superior to that of the
average pilot. Apparently the mathematical absurdity of this idea escapes
them. This enables them to believe that they are safer flying than driving.
That self delusion is what ultimately leads to most "pilot error" accidents,
IMO.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

The "chorus of pilots howling" is a good thing, because it reinforces
how bad the judgment JFK exhibited was and that, in turn, reduces the
likelihood that they'll do the same thing. I made an error in judgment
once - thinking "I can do that" after Flight Watch told me "VFR not
recommended." About a third of a second later the little check pilot
in the back of my head started screaming at me. I had *just passed*
a nice runway so I turned back and landed. This was triggered in part
by a briefing by the CAP about finding the confetti shreds of an
airplane that flew into a thunderstorm (I originally typed "flew through,"
but he didn't make it, did he?)

And yes, flying is safer than driving becasue there's a *lot* smaller
probability that somebody will blow through a red light and nail you.

-- Marten Kemp, PP-ASEL&S