Clearly the proper and expected "return" was done. What "steams" me is that one of our local television stations had headlines and story that the aircraft "RAN OUT OF FUEL". [Chuckle] Must have returned on fumes....
I retired in 1999, aged out. Many of the senior pilots had the habit of hand flying when below 10,000 feet. Autopilot, or George as we called it, flew the rest. Most of these pilots had tail-wheel time as well. Loved my J-3.
It is a Federal offense to disobey the Federally mandated commands of a flight or cabin crew. The captain was merely following procedure to remove the offenders.
