The first 757 accident was in Feb 1996 and was a Birgenair flight that went down after takeoff in the Dominican Republic. The captain's ASI was out of action during the takeoff roll but they continued and lost control soon after, killing 189.
The second was Aeroperu out of Peru in October 1996 and it went down because the statics were all taped up, killing 70.
Both are symptoms of the trend toward automatic complacency in that pilots nowadays do not know how to fly (generalisation).
Both airplanes had other sources of speed indication, one had lost only one out of the five available, and the other lost three. Neither accident was inevitable.
The US P3 pilot did a good job recovering and flying the airplane, but it is hardly heroic. After all he was just trying to save his own ass. The definition of a hero is one who gives, or is prepared to give, his own life in order to save the life of someone else. This was not such a case.
They are confusing skill and heroism.
However the US needs heroes, and if they want to present this crew as such, that is their business.
[ 15 July 2001: Message edited by: boofhead ]