In article ,
mm wrote:

On Fri, 16 Jan 2009 06:21:53 -0800, Smitty Two
wrote:



As far as the pilot being a hero, sure, he did a nice job. Any pilot
could have easily done the same thing.

So how come other pilots said he was the only one to ever successfully
ditch [in the water]. (Maybe they are only counting airliners and not
military or private planes?)

I believe it was said that few ditchings end with no loss of life. Few
ditchings occur in a river in the middle of a huge city, with fifty
boats within spitting distance. If he'd have put that thing down in the
middle of the ocean, every bit as gently, the lot of 'em would have
drowned, or been eaten by sharks as they floated on their seat cushions.



I'm not surprised he could find the Hudson River. It's landing
without breaking up that is the achievement.


Nuts. The pilot himself, at the award ceremony, said "we just did what
we were trained to do." Landing an airplane is duck soup, for a pilot.
All he did, as far as the landing, was land on the water instead of on a
runway. I don't see any particular "achievement" in not breaking up.