The man needs to retire and write a book! I'll buy it!
And, since the accident was in New York, there will probably be a movie as well.
Avionics have come a long way since 1977, and training has too. Were I a commercial pilot, I would get some deadstick time. In my case, half my landings were at a field with 1600 feet beyond the displaced threshhold, in which every landing could be realistically deadstick.
Folks are talking about adding dead stick landings to training. For years the standard offer from sim instructors if the sim session ended early - "dual flameout landing anyone?"
Folks will complain about 'negative training', etc, etc but other interesting events to see are no flap takeoffs, s/e handflown CAT II or III landings, total loss of hydraulics, and dual engine failure landings.
Unfortunately, the latest version of FAA AQP training has so many checkboxes that you might have to pencil whip a few items just to get done in the alloted sim time. What was once real training has morphed into a continuous checkride with so much crammed into each session that there is little time to practice technique or become proficient. The feds seem to acknowlege this and have recently proposed changes to get back to basics.
I've sure practiced dead stick landings and ditchings in the sim in years past but lately, if it's not part of the AQP profile, it doesn't get done. In the real world, there is a vast array of potential scenarios, all of them thankfully very improbable.
On another website it was noted that US Airways has now made water landings from three of the four runways at LGA. I actually remember the flight with the somewhat dubious identifier as 5050.
True, this one was much better that the previous two. Captain Sullenberger helped develop a CRM training program in the wake of US Air's deadly five crashes in five years from 1989 to 1994.
Press Conference in NY just ended, crew have been awardeded the "Key to New York" Other emergency services honoured as well. Some of the response times were amazing.
And did you catch that one of the first boat captains on the scene was Vince Lombardi? I'm mixing the football metaphor a bit but I can hear the 'Notre Dame Fight Song' (more formally the 'Notre Dame Victory March') from the movie
Airplane! playing now. "Good luck, we're all counting on you!"