Posted on 01/15/2009 4:23:17 PM PST by 444Flyer
Memo to Captain “Sully” (hero pilot)
Amend the “RATED” section of your resume tomorrow:
A320-Glider
Yeeeees! Go Air Force! Sister of four Air Force servicemen, daughter of Merchant Mariner who was D-day 30, WWII and was buried at Sea several years ago; one uncle was a Vietnam Vet helicopter pilot another uncle served during WWII in both the Navy and Army! Very proud of our military today as every day.
God Bless America and our fine military training!
Of course he is an Air Force pilot...if he had been a Navy pilot there would be a barge with a plane on it!
The very least Milhouse could do would be to see about putting this man in the Air Force One rotation. Who wouldn’t feel more secure sitting in the back of this guy’s bus?
“if he had been a Navy pilot there would be a barge with a plane on it!”
Excellent! ;-)
It is no less than divine providence that there were no fatalities. Having flown with both types of military pilots (and yes, they are different), I tend to favor the Navy types. It appears that this “Zoomy” does pretty well with the water though.
Lost: One A-320
Gained: All lives aboard.
It is difficult to argue with the numbers. Yet that is only part of the full equation. I will wait, to learn more.
This should be an interesting investigation.
LOL...Then there's your Marine pilot who would have circled the barge with the plane and lowered down on a rope and landed dead center on it. Then caught the plane with his bare hands!;)
(My Marine friends have obviously had an influence on me.)
I just realized that Smoking Gun already picked it up, but you are right.. that looks like a Pulitzer photo, it says it all, danger, survival, wow...
Army would have wondered what the big white bird was doing on the water.
As a former F-4/F-16 pilot myself, I’d also like to say well done. Next round on me Sir.
BTW- the Airbus that he was flying has a kewl feature. It has a “ditching switch” that the crew can throw in the event of a ditching. It closes all the valves in all the tanks and makes the plane float pretty well as long as it’s not full of fuel and remains intact. Pretty sure this plane wasn’t full at takeoff because they were on a relatively short flight to NC, and he obviously put it down nice and smooth. Of course the ditching switch was just theory, until today that is. I’ll bet the engineer that came up with that idea is busting some buttons somewhere. Come to think of it, I’ll buy him a round too!
You got that right very well done indeed. Experience is everything. For him to be able to turn the plane around and land it in the short amout of time he had to make decisions while avoiding 2 bridges and to land on water just shows how quick the mind and reflexes are when trained well.
A huge Salute of Respect goes out to Chesley B. Sullenburger III for bringing his souls home alive.
Ahhh.... Luke AFB ... gets nice and warm there in the summer! While my DH has been there, he hasn’t been stationed there. (We’re in California....where it can ALSO get pretty hot in the summertime!) Your son will be in my prayers!
Awwww... thanks.
LOL
You’re right of course, but for now it’s a real joy to celibrate a great story with someone who appears to be a real hero.
The DBM hates these kinds of stories with a vengence and so there are so few reported.
Yeah, I bet we find out he really crashed and killed everyone on board and the people we see in the pictures standing on the wings are faked!/Sarcasm of the highest order.
You sound like sour grapes. No matter what caused the accident, his skill saved a lot of lives.
It was a landing. Not a crash. But, he is definitely a hero!
Not only an Air Force man but a UNC alum! GO BEARS!
That was not a crash landing. The aircraft was controlled all the way to the water.
He is a hero but not for the flying of the aircraft. Apparently (if news sources are correct) he could have made it to Tetterborough in New Jersey. He elected not to do this but landed in the Hudson river instead. In the air he did not know what was on the runway at Tetterborough and if he were short or long on his landing it would have been catastrophic for the passengers and those on the ground. He elected for the miles of river he had available. He knew he had to put it down without breaking the aircraft up, and he did. His piloting was good. He decision making process was brilliant.
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