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Almost every who was watching the news in mid-January is aware of the amazing feat of flying of Chelsey B. “Sully” Sullenberg III, a US Airways captain who was piloting a jetliner with 150 passengers and 5 crew members aboard. The Airbus 320 had just completed its take-off when it ran into a flock of Canada Geese and plunged into the icy Hudson River. The aircraftwas less than five minutes out from LaGuardia Airport.
A former fighter pilot, Sully landed the Airbus on water after both engines failed from being choked by the huge birds. Rather than attempting to land on the streets of New York City, or an industrial park, an action that could have resulted in the lives of many people, Sully announced to the flight controllers that he was going to land on the Hudson River. However, landing on water is very difficult and there have been failed attempts in the past with dire consequences. The attitude of the nose has to be just right so that the engines don’t hook the surface of the water. and cause it to flip or cartwheel.
However, the mettle of the man was not in his skill at landing the aircraft. His years of experience brought the plane down but it was his character that led him to be “the last man standing.” With the aircraft sinking Sully went back into the cabin to make sure that everyone had left.
In Canada, another great flight crew made a “dead-stick” landing 25 1/2 years earlier. The team of Maurice Quintal and Bob Pearson landed a new Boeing 767 onto a racetrack in Gimli, Manitoba after the aircraft ran out of fuel. In a feat lauded by Space Shuttle commanders they took the plane from cruising height to a dead stop with no injuries and little damage to the aircraft.
Now Sully Sullenberg and his heroic crew have joined the “Gimli Glider” as a testiment to the skill of pilots, especially when many in the world still think of them as “glorified bus drivers.”
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