Part of a comment I got the other day - Agree? or not??
"Sully's opinion - doesn't count for much
I haven't bent anything, during my 36 years career. No accidents, no incidents, no violations, in any of the 47 countries I have operated or seven ATPLs I hold.
I am going to go against the grain.
Sully is no hero.
I have flown out of JFK and Newark, as a 747 Captain and First Officer.
I have also encountered flocks of birds, ducks, geese.
The difference is, I didn't fly through them. I either ducked under or climbed over the top of them
There is information on the depth of a flock of geese, studies done in Canada. Not hard to dive under or climb over, IF you got your head on a swivel.
BUT, if your are picking your nose, sightseeing over New York, admiring your necktie and mustache in the reflection of the side windscreen, basking in the warm glow of the morning Sun, my FO's got it (until he hasn't) . . .
Next food for thought. The Ace of the Base, God's Gift to Aviation could have easily traded airspeed for altitude, to put the aircraft into a better position to glide to the nearest suitable airport. Unless it was a catastrophic failure, turbine blades tearing through the cowlings and cabin, one or both engines produced thrust, even residual thrust, until they were secured. That residual thrust would have carried him further and help gain even 1,500 feet.
But, peering down on New York, didn't see the first goose, listening to radio chatter, bang, bang-bang-bang, "Oh ****!" Assholes and elbows.
That is probably how it really went. BUT, America always needs a hero.
He put a perfectly good aeroplane into the water.
I read the accident report. I saw the movie. I saw his interviews . . . Bull****!"