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And I was surprised that anyone thought the pilot was a hero for being able to land with only one engine. Maybe there was more damage that affected the airworthiness of the plane that I am unaware of, but landing with one engine from 30,000 feet is no big deal.

I wouldn't pick nits over it. I'm a network technician, and when things go to hell and I get them under control I'm always treated like a hero myself. It's people's way of saying they're grateful.

In "hero" terms, the person I usually think of is that Leonard Skutnik, a passerby who jumped into a freezing river to save a woman following the crash of Air Florida Flight 90 ... just an ordinary Joe who transcended fear and the natural concern for his own safety to do something that he believed to be right.

I could see the term "hero," being applied to Sullenberger who landed the engine-out plane on the Hudson. (But even then, it was just the decision he made to land on the Hudson which had to be decided upon in a couple of seconds. Once he made the decision, I suspect executing it wasn't difficult for him.)

ML/NJ

Leonard Skutnik is indeed a real hero. As was “the man in the water” who kept passing the life ring to others and who slipped under the Potomac ice before he could be rescued. His name was Arland D. Williams Jr., a bank examiner with the Atlanta Fed. This year I discovered that Leonard Skutnik attended jr high with me, a class behind me.