People keep saying that this was a tribute to competence but it goes well beyond that. This was expertise. Expertise in knowing every ounce of capability of that plane to fly and land without engines. Expertise in setting up training programs for flight crews in emergency situations. Expertise in getting rescue vessels to the plane in minutes. Expertise in diving into icy waters and rescuing the last few passengers inside the plane. Expertise in getting those two women out of the water before they could sink beneath the surface.
We've been living in a time when even mere competence was distained and smartness considered 'elitism' as if that was a bad thing.
Had that fuel filled jet crashed into any part of NYC, the tragedy would have been one of total horror. Sully and his crew, and all the rescuers showed us what the best of the best can do when the chips are down. Let's hear it for experts! - SusanL143 on dailykos.com
I found it fitting that this display of expertise was on the same day as the most incompetent President in US history gave his farewell address to the nation. We can hope that this following is true:
....the one thing that we're not running out of in my view and that's American technological ingenuity. That little piece of Benjamin Franklin's legacy is alive and well - Simon Schama on Bill Moyers (h/t R.P.)
