Hudson River Pilot: Hero or Just Doing His Job?
By now you have all heard this story or saw video clips on youtube or the news about a plane that landed (crashed as others say) in the Hudson River.
Everyone is calling this pilot a hero, but I dare to say otherwise.
He had few options: River, Streets, Building, Airport. Lets examine the options.
Buildings & Streets - These are both bad, but using a building as a runway is far worse. Probably would result in multiple deaths.
Airport - The plane was up in the air for minutes and the engines were down, not giving him enough time to glide the plane to a local airport
River - Worse case scenario, everyone drowns. Lets do it.
My first thought, before seeing any video was, “oh, he landed the plane in a river”. Video evidence confirmed my suspicions. The plane looked like it was landing on a runway, hitting the water at what appears to be a normal angle for landing a plane. Heroic move? I think not.
The pilot did not employ any special techniques, pull people from a burning wreckage or risk his life in any way to save anyone; he landed the plane. Landing the plane just like he does everyday, just like every pilot does.
When I drive in the rain or snow, I do the same things I do when I drive in perfect weather, I turn the car using the wheel, I move forward by depressing the gas and I stop using the brake.
This guy simply landed the plane, it just happened to be water.
I don’t know if we over praised the pilot for what he did, and I agree that his options were limited.
The choice to land on water was not heroic, however the WAY he did it, was, I think an act of bravery, heroism and honestly… luck.
Let me explain:
Different people react differently under the extreme pressure of loosing their lives. The pilots calm nerves to land the plane as normally as possible showed bravery. The fact that he had to do it without a landing gear means that he had to be real precise with the touchdown or the plane would break apart.
In the end I think he IS a hero, because he made good decisions under pressure and showed great skill and control on execution.
Landing a plane on a runway, under less stress, you have much more room for a less than perfect landing. Here you have to be perfect or the plane breaks apart.