Really?
I would think that walking through the cabin to verify all had exited would be done by any captain and not just a hero.
I would think that anyone who had ever flown(as a pilot) into any airport near a huge city with waterways/rivers/lakes/bays/oceans had at least considered the possibility of ditching on takeoff or landing there. In the USA, I've flown out of SFO, BOS, DCA, LGA and many other near water airports....its in the back of my head always. I am sure 90percent of the airline pilots out there could have done as good a job as the crew which actually did the job. I would have been more worried out of Midway!!! (MDW)
Getting out and onto the wings was the best possible course of action. I am very puzzled why anyone would attempt to open the aft doors...but panic can make mistakes happen.
I encourage everyone to actually read the little briefing cards in the seat pocket ahead of you. They tell you , in picture form, almost everything you need to know about ditching.
USAIR's planes are all equiped with life vests beneath the seats.
The life raft *(slide) has a lanyard (rope)to anchor the raft to the plane or something else and a knife to cut it loose!
Ditching switch...great idea...but in the time it took me to type this sentance I could have : closed the outflow valve, turned off the bleeds, and the other things that would help you stay afloat...on douglas or boeing aircraft. and on the douglas, it would be closed by a direct cable, not electronics. I do wonder if the outflow valve really closed...we shall see.
The pilot and copilot as well as the FA's were probably very interested in getting a head count to make sure everyone was off the plane.
The skill set for landing on the water and a normal landing is very similiar...so, in effect, we are always practicing for a water landing with every normal landing. Of course there are some differences, but keeping the nose up and the wings level...come on.
Someone actually is concerned about the port authority tagging USAIR for a fuel spill...well the counter suit might blame the port authority for not getting rid of birds. we shall see.
I am a fan of the JT8D (no pun) and wonder how it would have held up compared to the CFM56.