[Hawkeye's-911T]

When I had my flight exam (seems like decades ago) I was made very aware of human/pilot perceptions with respect to illusions of speed & distance which can & may occur when flying over smooth water. Or put another way, the danger of being a low hour novice, low flying & manoeuvering - especially over water.

I was fortunate enough that my flight examiner was an ex WWII Spitfire pilot (something like 5000 hrs.)whose exam was very much akin to a high-end dual session. He made it very clear to me this was a situation in which one is to be very aware of precisely what is going on.

On a historical note with a degree of similarity, a probable spatial dis-orientation among other contributing factors, was involved in JFK Jr.’s fatal crash over water. It should be noted he was flying at dusk & low visibility which surely would have compounded matters. It turned out that if he had remained calm & believed his ADI & not relied on his other senses before tightening up the corkscrew of his death spiral, he could have recoverd.

The lesson is clear; lack of experience & common sense coupled with an unjustified degree of arrogance invariably leads to a tragic outcome. In the final analysis - this tragic accident, like so many others, was so avoidable or preventable.

JB