This is where pilots show what they are made of. When people call them “glorified bus drivers”, as I have mistakenly done in the past, they don’t truly understand that a pilot isn’t usually paid for what he does do, he is paid for what he can do!
The standard list of procedures in any major incident (ad lib)
- PANIC
- Pull yourself together
- Fly the aircraft
- Ascertain the details and severity of the situation
- DEAL WITH THE SITUATION!
- Get on the ground (or water in this case) in one piece ASAP
- Walk away with everyone alive
Following taken from BBC America
Pilot hailed for ‘Hudson miracle’
The pilot of an airliner that ditched in New York’s Hudson River has been hailed a hero after all 155 passengers and crew were rescued.
The US Airways Airbus A320 made the crash-landing minutes out of LaGuardia airport, both its engines apparently disabled by a flock of birds.
Passengers were rescued from the wings or helped from the icy water by divers.
Captain Chesley Sullenberger was praised by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his "masterful" landing.
The state governor spoke of a "miracle on the Hudson".
He [Capt Sullenberger] walked the plane twice after everybody else was off
Michael Bloomberg
Mayor of New York
The BBC’s Greg Wood reports from New York that it was a true delivery from disaster, a commercial airliner forced to ditch in the river just next to the skyscrapers of mid-town Manhattan but with no fatalities.
One person suffered two broken legs and paramedics treated 78 patients, most for minor injuries but, through a combination of luck, the skill of the pilot and a rapid emergency response, 155 people have had a very narrow escape, our correspondent says.
Air accident investigators are in New York to probe the cause of the incident.
And more from SMH.com.au:
Australian & International Pilots’ Association president Barry Jackson said Mr Sullenberger had just minutes to perform a delicate operation that, had it not been executed perfectly, could have resulted in the plane cartwheeling on impact with the water and potentially killing those on board.
And what I feel is in somewhat bad taste is the alleged advert that came out (albeit from an unreliable source) very shortly after the incident with the headline:
The Hudson Crash: Just One More Reason to Fly Virgin.
I sincerely hope that this is just some prank email and hope that not even Virgin, although very sharp and witty with their advertising, would stoop this low and piggy back off something like this. But personally, I would rather fly US Airways who employ pilots with the skills shown by Capt Sully, Hero of the Hudson!
