Emergency landing on New Jersey highway prompts me to ask
Believe it or not, this is a question I’ve actually spent time mulling … sometimes while keeping one eye on the road and the other on the sky.
The real-life set-up: A small airplane, presumably suffering mechanical trouble, landed safely on the New Jersey Turnpike at 6:45 this morning. No one in the plane or on the ground was reported injured. Somewhat coincidentally to the topic at hand, the plane’s occupants were monitoring traffic for a radio station and TV station.
The question: Is it acceptable — legally, but most especially morally — for a pilot in need of an emergency landing spot to choose a busy roadway?
(Update: Don’t miss the pilots weighing in below in comments.)
Obviously, there are far too many variables imaginable to reach a one-size-fits-all conclusion (at least for me). However, for the purposes of this mental exercise let’s presume the pilot has a choice between the highway (and endangering motorists) or a small field that might do but looks significantly riskier for the plane’s occupants.
Is the pilot entitled to improve his odds at the expense of perhaps injuring or killing people who played no role in the decision to fly or the maintenance of the aircraft? In other words, does self-preservation trump concern for your fellow man?
While the New Jersey incident this morning ended without harm to anyone on the ground, such is not always the case, as it’s easy to find examples where planes landed on highways and were then hit by cars.
Personally, I find the decision to endanger others dicey at best from an ethical standpoint, although I’ll acknowledge that I might feel differently if on the plane.
Feel free to chime in.
