"I was guilty of anachronism when I interpreted the Luke Field testimony about 'landing mats' as referring to pierced-steel plates or Marsden matting."
I've tried to be very careful about not making any comments about appealing to common practice, but it is incredibly tempting. In the discussion threads about whether Amelia would choose to land on a reef rather than ditch in the lagoon, I was tempted to point out that my friends who all flew would try to avoid ditching at all costs. I recall a scene in the "Bridges of Toko Ri" where William Holden's character is asked if he wants to land and risk missing the arresting wire and hitting "Tilly" the aircraft crane, or ditching. He says no thanks to ditching, and he will come aboard. (Great tense scene with awesome view of carrier operations.) He echoes what I understand from naval aviators, who all would prefer landing on something rather than ditching. But then I have to catch myself, because I can't place Amelia in that position. I have to remind myself that just because so many would not ditch if they could avoid it, does not mean that she did choose to avoid ditching.
But then I do wonder if such thoughts are inherent in any search operation, from Commander Thompson's thoughts, to the thoughts of whoever it was that organized the Colorado search.