US Airways Flight 1549 - Hudson River Crash

I am sure the world already knows, but if you are excluded from any society that runs any kind of news agency, I will allow time for a brief explanation of what happened. An Airbus A320 took off with 155 passengers, birds flew into the engine, the plane landed on the Hudson River, New York.

I have to give it to the pilot...not for having an amazingly strange name (Captain Chesley Sulleberger the Third), but for landing that aircraft perfectly. By perfect, I mean, without fault, textbook...just perfect. Get a dictionary if you didn't know that.

Being a pilot under training myself, I know how much pressure is placed on you during a practise forced landing, or an engine failure after take-off. They are not nice and the drills themselves drain your concentration.

Being in the heart of New York, I cannot begin to imagine the difficulty in landing that aircraft without killing at least one person, and if you think a bit more indepth you can realise the danger in the situation. If however, you have the brain of a cabbage, I'll tell you what I mean.

The aircraft was taking off, not landing. As a result, the aircraft would be carrying a lot of fuel on board. If the pilot landed on a building, or in the heart of Manhattan, it would be mass destruction, many people killed, structures knocked down, the list could go on.

Captain Sullewhatever did his job, saved every life on board and did an amazing job of it.

Anyway, if you are ever in a situation like that, don't panic. The pilot usually knows what to do and will want to also save his own life.

The Captain and the crew of that flight have been awarded Key to the City from the Mayor of New York. My hat is off to them.

That's it for now.