The 155 passengers and crew who were rescued safely after the crash landing of the U.S. Airways plane on the Hudson River can thank God and their lucky stars that Chesley Sullenberger was their pilot.
Thank too the ad hoc flotilla of commuter ferries and water taxies that came within minutes to pluck them from the icy waters of the Hudson. That Quick Rescue Kept Death Toll at Zero
For a moment after the water landing, it was a picture of eerie calm, the airplane floating on its belly in the center of the river near West 48th Street under a bright sky. A witness in a penthouse apartment called it a perfect landing, as if on cement.
But very soon the water was churned by an ad hoc flotilla of boats and ferries flying the flags of almost every city, state and federal agency that works the waters around New York City. They sped toward the slowly sinking jet, a rescue operation complicated by river currents that kept dragging the plane south, as its passengers climbed aboard the wings to await help
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The operation was not without improvisation: Four New York police officers commandeered a Circle Line boat picking up tourists and commuters at 42nd Street and hurried to the jet. Two officers stayed on the ferry and tied themselves to two detectives, John McKenna and James Coll, who stepped onto the wing and helped people onto rescue boats, the police said.
The big hero was Sully the pilot who showed he had more than enough of the right stuff. He was trained, experienced, prepared and knew what to do.
Airliners are not meant to glide, although occasionally they have to. The pilot of this one, Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger III, is certified as a glider pilot, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.
Captain Sullenberger, known as Sully, flew the F-4 for the United States Air Force for seven years in the 1970s after graduating from the United States Air Force Academy. He joined USAir, as it was called at the time, in 1980 and became a “check airman,” training and evaluating new pilots or those changing to new aircraft or moving up to captain. He also was an accident investigator for the union, the Air Line Pilots Association.
When all were out, the pilot walked up and down the aisle twice to make sure the plane was empty, officials said.
"It would appear that the pilot did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river and then making sure everybody got out," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said of the veteran pilot and Air Force Academy graduate.
UPDATE: In the London Times, Giles Whittell writes Heroism: one great decision and no panic.
He made one blindingly good decision, and didn't panic. That was the heroism. All the rest was training, quick thinking by the people on the commuter ferries beneath him, and a wonderfully sturdy aircraft.
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Sully Sullenberger kept his nerve, and his eyes open. Such is heroism - fleeting and priceless.