If Only the Titanic Had Floated That Well

At first glance it might seem like that plane in the photo is merely sitting in water, but it's not. It's floating.... Like a boat. For me, watching CNN this afternoon, that was the most amazing aspect of today's events in New York. Even as various ships and boats converged on USScareways flight 1549 and began rescuing the plane's passengers, the entire unfolding scene could be seen floating merrily down the river.

In case you missed the story, the plane apparently hit a flock of birds and lost both engines minutes after taking off from LaGuardia. At that point the pilot was still over New York city. He managed to bring the plane around in an apparent effort to return to the airport. But with both engines out, it became clear that wouldn't work and he instead headed for the Hudson River. He cleared the George Washington Bridge and eased the plane into the water. Amazingly, the aircraft stayed in one piece and all 155 people on board made it off alive.

Some people are already calling it the "miracle on the Hudson." Now, I hate to be a skeptic and spoil the fun, but there was nothing miraculous about it. First of all, both engines on the plane were out. If there was indeed some supreme deity at work in all this, why didn't He leave at least one of the engines operational? Better yet, why didn't God simply make the birds vanish moments before the plane hit them? Then we could have avoided the whole damn mess. Or does the Lord's beeper only go off after a major disaster? More importantly, why is God still relying on a beeper? Shouldn't He get himself a Blackberry?

No, the REAL reason this story turned out the way it did was because of the pilot. His name is Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. He's 58, a former fighter pilot, and has been with USScareways since 1980. Oh, and the best part? Not only does Sullenberger run a consulting business that advises businesses on safety, he teaches a course in catastrophic risk management at the University of California. So if you're going to find yourself stuck on an airliner with zero power over one of the world's biggest cities, he's juat the guy you want at the controls.

According to witnesses, he lifted the nose of the plane just before it hit the water. In doing so, he managed to avoid having one of the wings or engines hit first. Had that happened, it would likely have thrown the plane into an uncontrolled cartwheel. As it turned out, however, it ended up being a regular everyday type landing. Well, except for the part where it was in the middle of a freakin' river.

Nothing divine about that. It's merely the kind of cool thinking under pressure that comes only with age and experience. This is a good time to point out that airline pilots currently face mandatory retirement when they turn 60, regardless of their health. In Sullenberger's case, that's in two years, so expect a renewed debate over the fairness of that rule.

Incidentally, it was 27 years ago this week that an Air Florida plane ended up in the Potomac River with very different results.

Sadly, there is still no word on the condition of the struck birds.