CBS to devote entire morining show to hero pilot

[Pi brat]

Only one man has ever walked on water, only one man has ever successfully emergency landed on water.

You are right about the walking on water, but with the ditching you would have define successful. There have been many successful ditchings, just few jets. There is some great footage of a PAA Stratocruiser ditching in the Pacific. I believe it was ONA that ditched a DC-9 in the Caribbean, but not all lived. National put a 727 in the Gulf unintentionally, not sure if anyone died.

This not to take anything away from Sully. He is a great guy and am glad to see him and the profession getting the attention. I had a pax ask me the other day if I knew him . When I said I flew with him quite a bit they shook my hand. That was weird.

 

[nycbusdriver]

only one man has ever successfully emergency landed on water.

Absolutely not true. Airplanes have ditched successfully since the Wright Brothers (if your definition of ditching is survivors.) The difference today is that our media has developed into a dangerous, overblown 24/7 hype machine. Sully is on a daily basis telling everyone that will listen that 1.) he was simply doing the job he was trained for, and 2.) it was a crew effort. The media will have none of that, however, simply because it does not sell advertising.

No professional airline pilot was surprised to see 1549 floating. We've been told forever that these airplanes can and will float. It was nice that Sully proved it in spades.

 

[sharktooth]

America West Airlines pilots have made plenty of Miraculous takeoffs and landings. Prevented serious harm to pax and crew many of times throughout the years!!!! HP was one of the safest Airlines to fly with NO CRASHES ON RECORD!!! I am sorry Piney, I know you are defending your opinion but in no way is this jealousy on luv's part.
No one wishes bad or harm upon any pilot and crew, West or East of this magnitude!!! :down:

This is absolutely about jealousy. You can scramble all you want but that is what it boils down to.

Your comments indicate that you completely missed the point about why Sully is a hero. Of course, many pundits missed the point also.

IMO, Sully is a hero because he made a decision early on to ditch the aircraft. He maximized the survival odds for the passengers and crew by taking the longest runway available (the Hudson). He might have made LGA. Then again, he might not. He might have made Teterboro or Newark. Again, there were significant odds that he might not, either overshooting or undershooting, the closest, LGA, with relatively short runways. It was all or none. He and his crew were test pilots with a plane load of passengers with no go-around capability.

This was not about hand flying skill, per se. It was about mature judgement, something that rarely comes without significant experience. I think that is why the entire episode threatens some, I knew it was only a matter of time before an alleged west pilot raised the "god" (reversed, dog) issue. It illustrates how decades of experience in transport aircraft and a mature attitude saves lives, a DOH/LOS issue.

and, I am certain pilots have made "miraculous takeoffs and landings". Perhaps, in some cases, were the pilots more mature, they would not get in those situations that would then require extraordinary efforts to recover.

 

[Pi brat]

Found this site on the ONA ditching http://www.35milesfromshore.com/

 

[N965VJ]

I was with you until you picked up the bar stool.

I thought I was the expert on bar stools around here.

 

[sharonstoneseat]

No apologies.

The point you missed is "perspective". It is certainly proper to acknowledge his skill and performance, but not to deify the man over it. I think he is being used by the media to boost ratings as they re-hash the feel-good story of the year.

Perspective folks.

We are to take the blame for missing the point of your original sarcastic shout out remark that had the tone of a 15 year old boy who feels he is being ignored at a party? No.

Sorry, not our fault that you came off as the ultimate petty pilot. Backpeddling without a real apology isn't going to erase anyone's impression of your original petulant utterance.

As far as being used by the media, I am sure that someone with such obvious good temperment, judgment and humility as Captain Sully will know when to draw the line.

And it IS the feel-good story of the year in a very bad year so far and going to be tough to top. Examine your own perspective and decide either to enjoy it or if that is not possible for you, then try to quietly live with it.

 

[dexter]

THE WAY I LOOK AT IT SULLY [i]DID WALK ON WATER [/i]AND THE GOOD MAN UPSTAIRS MADE IT POSSIBLE. SO PUT THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT!!!

 

[ableoneable]

Only one man has ever walked on water, only one man has ever successfully emergency landed on water.

In addition to those mentioned a 737 lost both engines in a rainstorm off of Java and ditched in a river with one fatality.

Of course it did not happen in the U.S. so it is no surprise that no-one is aware of the event.

 

[cubfan]

I'm sure you can appreciate that many of us as customers have an entirely different perspective.

If you want to make this about how the media hypes things out of proportion then we probably have a great deal of agreement.

Let the good Captain be a hero and have his 15 minutes of fame untarnished.

Speculating and snarky comments like the walk on water one are not IMO appropriate. I think it's silly to be that way. We all know that it could have very easily gone a different way for a ton of reasons. BUT IT DIDN'T!

Can't we suspend reality for just a little while and rejoice in the fact that for one minute of one day something positive came out of a potential huge negative?????

Or is that to much to ask of a society that put men on the moon?

We've declined into a "If it Bleeds it Leads" mentality in what has been called the "Drive By Media" by Rush Limbaugh. Now he may not be everyone's favorite, however IMO his assessment of the media is spot on as can be. We see it all the time with people who cover airlines and travel. Some of them when I read what they write makes me wonder if they've ever been on a plane.

I'd like to believe that the most junior pilot flying anything bigger then an E190 for any US airline could do the same thing Captain Sullenberger did. However it wasn't their "Turn" that day. It was his turn and I say let him bask in the glory of a job well done without the snarkiness.

Piney,

Good post, and if it matters luvin or anyone else can have my turn, and I'll say great job, well done, your the man/woman........

 

[avion]

He only landed on the water, he didn't walk on it!

hmmmm i see the LUV in your address.. hmm sour grapes and to ever even say what you said is saddening.. hmmm LUV what airline cowtows that ... atleast the mx issue on the aircraft last week was addressed unlike LUV who is still pleading not to pay the 10 mil for knowingly operating aircraft which were due for followup and the spokeswoman from the airline said none of out customers were at risk but what if something had happened... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm granted nothing did thank goodness but to say what you said is truly uncalled for and i speak for millions of aviation profressionals around the world.. try to have a better day

 

[Piedmont1984]

"A pilot may earn his full pay for that year in less than two minutes. At the time of the incident he would gladly return the entire amount for the privilege of being elsewhere"

Ernest K. Gann

I think Capt Sullenberger is a reluctant hero who earned an entire career's worth of pay in those few perilous minutes.

Let's let him bask for the moment and all of us celebrate in his accomplishment.

Fifteen minutes is fifteen minutes.

 

[oldcrow]

The free advertising LCC has gotten from this event is enormous. Sully is approaching 600,000 fans on facebook and the free pro-USAirways publicity continues.

LCC owes the crew of 1549 big time ......... just for doing their job !

 

[john john]

I was with you until you picked up the bar stool.

Yous not from Philly

 

[john john]

The free advertising LCC has gotten from this event is enormous.

To bad the call sign wasn’t USAir

 

[Atlantic]

The "C" call sign was called a "nic name" for us airways by many reporters on tv the last few days.