Having yet to read the actual book, I understand that its initial purpose was to later explain to the children why their parents' lives had changed so much when they were much too young to understand when it all happened.
As such, it is probably not a hero's tale of how he saved the day by saving the lives of his passengers, but more a tale of what happens to people when something unforeseen occurs in their lives and the decisions they make based on their understanding of the facts at that time.
I'm eager to put my order in and read the story for myself, but to me the most interesting part will be after the crash landing. Flying much smaller hardware in a somewhat more risky environment, dealing with a potential incident or accident (and I have lost friends and colleagues already) as a family (or by my family as it may be) is what is often on my mind. To me the hero part is not in gliding the aircraft but in keeping the family together in difficult times under a lot of pressure and public scrutiny. That is the bit I want to read about.
I agree that there have been many other examples of good airmanship that saved the day and that books have been published about. That does not detract from the merit of this book and the real subject of the story, IMO.
Now off to order a book..