Brace For Impact

Our world is inundated with digital media. In an era of television (and now the Internet), we are readily exposed to a barage of media, be it live footage, on-site reports, and images of just about any newsworthy (and not-so-newsworthy) event. There are days when it all becomes simply overwhelming and you just want to turn it all off.

But there are times when you witness something that is simply hard to believe or imagine. Landing an Airbus A320 in the Hudson River is definitely one of those moments.

When you first hear mention of an airplane crash, you think the worst thoughts. They don't happen very often, but when they do, they generally conjure up thoughts of the worst.

But on January 15, we were presented with a story that was, quite frankly, hard to imagine. It was a story in which truth was stranger than fiction. This is one time in which the media presented us with an amazing real-life story - which had a great ending.

US Airways Flight 1549 was heading to Charlotte, North Carolina. But the flight lasted a total of 5 minutes. Think about that for a moment: 300 seconds is not much time. In those 300 seconds, pilot Chesley Sullenberger had to make some incredibly astute decisions - and quickly.

At 1500 feet, just moments after takeoff, he sustained a "double bird strike". Not only did the bird strikes take out one engine on the Airbus A320, it took out BOTH engines. Now, Sullenberger was flying what essentially amounts to one big brick.

He chose to not attempt an emergency landing at LaGuardia Airport (strangely enough, on Runway 13) or Teterboro, New Jersey.

But the more you read about this story, the more you realize that this wasn't just any pilot. Sullenberger's glider and airforce training came to the forefront. From news reports, he flew about 900 feet over the George Washington bridge, then glided onto the Hudson River for what was a phenomenal landing of one rather large glider.

In an incredible twist, he walked through the plane twice to make sure that everyone was rescued and then ... was the last person off the rescue raft.

Every time I drive by Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, I am amazed of the technological marvel that is a jet taking off and landing. I also have tremendous admiration of the skills required of a pilot to put one of these high-tech machines into the air ... and back on the earth ... skillfully and safely.

Every time I think of the "Miracle On The Hudson", I realize yet again that it was one amazing feat. Sullenberger was able to maintain his composure and with three words - "Brace For Impact" - took 155 people out of harm's way. Perhaps he was just doing his job, and perhaps his training put him in a place in which he could perform these phenomenal tasks so readily. But nonetheless, I wonder how many could perform this dramatic landing with such grace under pressure. For this, I applaud Sullenberger - a real-life hero if ever there was one.

(Photo attributed to davidwatts1978 )