Ditching
It appears that Southern and Taca experienced forced landings as they landed on LAND. While both are impressive displays of airmanship they are not ditchings.
To be a Ditching the touchdown must be in WATER.
From what I know this is the first completely successful ditching of a jet airliner ever.
Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
Quotes:
"I am getting more than a little tired of Fox News declaring that this was the "first" successful ditching of a commercial airliner."
The Southern Airways DC-9 that hit a hailstorm near Atlanta back in 1977 - the era of Boeing Tri-motors - told ATC they had lost both engines, and ATC replied understanding they had lost two of their engines, and continued working other traffic on the frequency.
Although within gliding distance of at least one airport, they landed on a rural road, hitting a corner grocery store, with some loss of life.
Everyone seems to have forgotten this little gem from 1988. A TAC 737 put down on a levee south of New Orleans after loosing power from both engines in a severe thunderstorm. There were no injuries and no loss of life. The aircraft was actually flown out of the location several days later. I would say his accomplishments were on par with what happened last week, given the choices he had and having little knowledge of the area he was putting down in. The details can be found here:
Taca 737 On New Orleans Levee