Guys, there seems to be a great deal of ego bashing going on. When things go wrong, most manufacturers´ Flight Crew Training Manuals somewhere state AVIATE, NAVIGATE, COMMUNICATE. And that is the order of the day.
Im not aware of the airports Down Under, but have flown N/S in the Americas and part of Europe most of my life. 11000 hrs in airline cockpits from F28 to 742,and some more in private jets. Your SOPs, are a great guidance, just under your QRHs.and non normal checklists.
But when things deteriorate and you have no clear idea of what is really going on, get it on the ground in one piece somewhere and have everyone walk away alive. That is your duty. To your pax, and crew. If the decision was flawed, or could have been improved, it can be argued into the ground, but your pax and your neck are grateful. Did Sully have time to go through the SOPs or make debated choices ? Not knowing the outcome which one of us would have gone for the ditching ? I think the Jetstar crew did their job to the best of their knowledge given the time constraints and a possibility that the aircraft was probably facing the worst enemy a pilot has to face: fire on board.
They were there, not the rest of us.