The American Spectator

The Spectacle Blog

"Miracle" and "omen" are good words to describe the survival of everyone aboard Flight 1549, but I like Michelle Malkin's choice: "Providential." What other word can describe the life-saving fact that a plane struck by such a near-certain disaster just happened to be piloted by a recognized air-safety expert?

The pilot of Flight 1549 was Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III, 57, of Danville, Calif. . . . who runs a safety consulting firm in addition to flying commercial aircraft. . . .
Sullenberger had been studying the psychology of keeping airline crews functioning even in the face of crisis, said Robert Bea, a civil engineer who co-founded UC Berkeley's Center for Catastrophic Risk Management.
Bea said he could think of few pilots as well-situated to bring the plane down safely than Sullenberger.
"When a plane is getting ready to crash with a lot of people who trust you, it is a test.. Sulley proved the end of the road for that test. He had studied it, he had rehearsed it, he had taken it to his heart."

The passengers aboard the plane reportedly prayed as they made their descent toward the Hudson River. It would appear, however, that their prayers were answered before they ever boarded the plane.