Plane down in hudson river

[Grace]

From the looks of the pictures I wouldnt call that a crash but a controlled water landing. Must be one heck of a pilot.

From the NY Times -

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.

And from CNN -

His resume -- posted on the Web site for his safety consulting firm, Safety Reliability Methods, Inc. -- lists piloting procedures, technical safety strategies, emergency management and operations improvement, as areas of industry expertise.

He served as an instructor and Air Line Pilots Association safety chairman, accident investigator and national technical committee member, according to a biography on the site. He participated in several USAF and National Transportation Safety Board accident investigations, and worked with NASA scientists on a paper on error and aviation, his site says.

Sort of reminds me of Captain Al Haynes, and the crash in Sioux City, Iowa, back in 1989. There were fatalities with that crash, but the pilot was a hero, nevertheless.

[blue]

Ild just like to see if he did a stall touchdown with no forward momentum the way some bush pilots have to land, or a splash while under forward momentum.

[K9karen]

The pilot and crew are true heroes. He even walked through the plane twice to make sure everybody was out. Is there an Oscar for pilots?

My girlfriend is a flight attendant and it's really hard work. They have to put themselves last. Recently, a passenger fell on her during turbulence (don't know why the pax was out of her seat) and broke her foot.

[smokey the elder]

I think there's a trip to the White House and other kudos in the pilot's future. If this whole thing were pitched as a screenplay, no one would believe it! The shot of the one guy pumping his fists was priceless.

[RICHARD]

The shot of the one guy pumping his fists was priceless.

Was it the black guy in the blue shirt?

Check out the video if you can. He was jumping up and down and smiling.

Great stuff and glad to see that some of the people decided to help out as opposed to talking pictures with their cell phones!

Many heroes.

I wonder what Chesley's middle name stands for and will it fit on a medal?

[lvpets2002]

Well I am Proud to state that our Hero Pilot was from Denison Texas.. Oh by the way I just read that they are pulling the plane out now & said the Whole Engine is Gone.. They have divers try to sonar locate in the river bottom.. This is not good.. I am wondering how many birds ending up in the engine..

[Taz_Zoee]

Well I am Proud to state that our Hero Pilot was from Denison Texas.. Oh by the way I just read that they are pulling the plane out now & said the Whole Engine is Gone.. They have divers try to sonar locate in the river bottom.. This is not good.. I am wondering how many birds ending up in the engine..

Oh, he's from your state (awesome!) and is currently living in Danville, CA which is just down the highway from me. Poor family is surrounded by media. They can't even leave the house. I know if I ever saw him and recognized him I'd want to shake his hand or give him a hug.

Oh, and I heard the flock of geese they hit was large enough to show up on radar. (Not sure how big that'd have to be, but it sounds BIG!)