Just like some have jumped to, what appears to them to be the obvious conclusions, the obvious is not always correct.

Well as usual with any law suit, the only one that wins is the lawyers when they collect their fees. For the rest of us we will all loose one way or another. This will eventually trickledown to each and everyone of us who travel to Belize at some point in the future. It is said that there is a silver linning to every cloud, I think the only silver hear will be in the form of money.

This was a very unfortunate circumstance and am personally sorry that anybody felt that they needed to take this to the courts,(as is their right)but we will surely all suffer from the incident.
Kat

Seems to be the American way...but what about the morality? Does it seem right to try to make $$ from an accident where no one was injured? This is not the way it's done in Belize!

bywarren/Denny, I used up the hangover so will add a little pepper to the chile pot. I don't know how many pilots Tropic or Maya have on staff but I would be willing to bet very few of them,if any, are IFR rated. If a ILS was installed in SP add about $1500/$2500 to train each pilot to become IFR rated. The ILS system plus training could very well effect ticket prices out of sight. JMHO

Not the obvious, Ernie. I know many of the pilots, most of the pilots. Most have IFR ratings. Most have gotten those ratings at their own expense. Many times they are flying (illegally) in IFR conditions. But, you are right on about the cost and whether most passangers would see the benifit.

As to the morality and need for a law suit, just another thought. Not to be argumentative. Could it not be looked at that if one accepts the premise that flights in Belize are being operated outside the law (that is not really a premise, it is a fact) that a law suit might change that and in the long run make flying in Belize more safe and therefore benifit Belize and all who go there?
Again, not everything might be as "obvious" as one thinks if one only thinks one way.

c'mon folks(meaning those suing). stuff happens. i highly doubt the pilot intentionally crashed the plane. i am an uneducated layperson, especially when it come to lawyering stuff, but heck, STUFF HAPPENS. i cant stand when i hear that people sue for rediculous and frivalous resons. sure, i bet they were scared %$#@less, but no need to sue. my personal opinion: unless someone really, badly, intentionally wrongs you, stuff happens. let it go.

for instance, one of my inner organs was punctured during a c-section 8 years ago. i function more or less normally, but not exactly normally. it was weeks and weeks of recovery. did i sue? OF COURSE NOT!! she didnt mean to cut me, stuff happens. sheesh. good thing by warren is here or i wouldnt understand any of it.

also, our first time to BZE in '93, the plane from houston had to make 3 passes over BZE due to misty fog & rains. you just plain couldnt see the runway until you were 15 ft over it. we SERIOUSLY thought we were going to die, honestly. we were clutching each other and our armrests. but the third time was a charm, and we landed safely to a rousing round of applause. and no, we didnt sue. it simply became a great story at parties.

lighten up, world!! unintentional stuff happens.

(as always, JMHO. hi warren, how ya doing?)

Thanks SweetJane, I am doing fine. Just trying to see if I have any brain cells left or if I have destroyed them all. Trying not to be my usual confrontational self and just engaging in conversation for the sake of mental exercise. Truly from a selfish motive. It helps me to try and see things from different views. Sometimes I think the word "obvious" has no use in our language and should be replaced with "appears".
This law suit we are discussing "appears" to have been filed for reasons that seem "obvious" depending on your perspective. I think one can jump to a potentially wrong conclusion if they focus on what they think is "obvious" as opposed to realizing that it "appears" one way. That leaves room that it might also appear another way to someone else. We need to realize we are not "obviously" right all the time. It just appears that way in my case. :p

I think I'll go work on what may appear to some, to be an obvious hangover.

Another example of your perceptiveness and not assuming the obvious. It appears to me that you might have the stomach flu and a sinus headache.

I QUIT !!!!!