Pilot of Navy Jet Is a Hero

Our dictionary’s definition of a hero uses terms of mythology, drama and achievement in battle that don’t seem to adequately cover the subject.

A more fitting description might be that the hero takes action the rest of us can’t imagine ourselves taking but are glad someone else can.

That would surely seem to be the case with Cmdr. David Strong, the reserve Navy pilot who miraculously guided his falling jet away from populated areas Monday and onto a Sorrento Valley parking lot.

Although the plane came very close to causing an unthinkable disaster, it did not because Strong stuck with it until it was a mere 250 feet above the ground. His commanding officer, Cmdr. Carey Carson, has proposed that Strong be commended for his actions.

We share Carson’s view. It’s not pleasant to think about jet airplanes crashing into areas around Miramar Naval Air Station where people live, work and shop. Happily, this one that did crash was in the hands of a man who took substantial risks with his own life to spare the lives of others.

In our book, that does make him a hero.