Fair play to Captain Sullenberger, who put his Airbus down in the Hudson River. It was a skilled landing, with the right angle at touchdown. Too much tail down, and it could have cartwheeled and broken up. Too much nose down, and the same could have happened. The wings were level, because if a wingtip had gone in early, is would have spun and broken up.
Lucky he was an experienced glider pilot, because that was what he was flying once the engines retired from the game. Maybe all airline pilots should have glider experience, (maybe they do already) because with power craft, you reduce engine power just before touchdown, and with gliders you do not have that luxury.
But in the end, although there is a natural wave of gratitude and heroism attributed to Captain Sullivan, this is redundant. The pilot is sitting up in the nose of the plane, the first bit to hit, and this concentrates the mind wonderfully. It is completely natural for any pilot of any aircraft to make an unscheduled landing with as little messiness as possible - purely in the pilot's own personal health and safety.
It was a nice touch for him to give his shirt to a shivering passenger, though. Wonder how much that would fetch on eBay?
Here's one we filmed earlier...
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3 comments:
You know why you lose so many votes?
threads like this
of course he's a bloody hero. Yes, self-preservation comes into it but at least the guy didn't panic and got the terrifying job done correctly. Others may have panicked and made a wrong move.
Just lighten up and smile and don't be so condescending. You might get more green votes
Hello again Anonymous.
Did I say he was not a hero? No I did not. I made a comment on his motivation, based on my knowledge of what it is like to land an aircraft in difficult conditions.
I said it was a skilled landing, that he did not make a mistake (unlike the pilot in the video), and I complimented him on the shirt touch.
It was not heavy, and I gave him a smile. I was not condescending.
Trouble with right wingers is that they are relating to the ideological dialogue going on in their own heads, to the extent that the cannot see what is happening in the reality in front of them.
The main reason that the green vote is artificially low is that we are substantially excluded from the political process, both the media discussion and the electoral process itself. In the media, we get a far smaller proportion of air time and column space than the proportion of votes that we get, and the electoral system does not accurately reflect the will of the people.
Thanks for taking the time and trouble to comment.
Richard
Condescension is not defined by intent, but by perception?
Discuss.
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