Flying over highly populated areas
This whole thing about SLF bumping their gums about flying over heavily populated areas is complete and utter twaddle. An aircraft experiencing an engine fire /failure needs every assistance from ATC, that's why the PAN is declared. You see PAN means, I NEED assistance, not some mumbo jumbo cr@p about where you can and can't fly over.
In captain Sullenberg's case, his aircraft was totally disabled, to attempt a landing anywhere other that the Hudson meant certain death to everyone on board. So basically Sullenberg was extremely selfish, in that he wanted to save his own skin. Gues what, when the crew save their own skin, almost always the passengers follow along dumbly. He did a great job, and then went on to display true gentlemanly behaviour in how he carried out the evacuation.
News break, most aircraft that come to grief have little or nothing actually wrong with the machine. Crew do dumb things with perfectly serviceable aircraft, ie Lionair, AF447 Air India Express, need I go on.
Rant over