Sully Gets the Keys to the City

Three weeks after making an unscheduled landing in the Hudson River, Captain Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger and his crew were given keys to New York City:

NEW YORK — Hero pilot Capt. Chesley Sullenberger and the crew of Flight 1549 were given keys to the city from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The City Hall ceremony Monday caped off a weekend of adulation and interviews. Sullenberger ditched his jetliner in the Hudson River when a flock of birds disabled his engines.

"On behalf of all New Yorkers we thank you for saving so many lives and sparing our city and so many families from tragedy," said Bloomberg, calling them real American heros. "You reminded us we can do anything if we put our minds to it."

Bloomberg told the crew, that day "could have been one of our most tragic, but became one of our most triumphant."

Sullenberger told reporters the rescue wouldn't have been possible without the rest of his crew.

"Much of this in the least three weeks has been about one person and I want to correct the record — this was a crew effort," said Sullenberger. "Our crew of five and the first responders as well as the cooperation of the passengers made this possible."

I watched the 60 Minutes interview with Capt. Sullenberger and it was pretty impressive, despite Katie Couric (she's really cloying and irritating). Like a true professional he's still bugged by thoughts that there's something else he could have done that might have improved the outcome, but given that everyone got off with only minor injuries, I think he can quit beating himself up about it.

One other gripe about Couric - all weekend I heard promos for the 60 Minutes piece in which Couric states "nobody is prepared to lose both engines on an airliner". Wrong. Sully was prepared, as is every other airline pilot out there. They may not be expecting it, but they are prepared. They spend hours in the simulator working through problems like that.

If he hadn't been prepared, this would not have come out as well as it did.