Not from the point of view of the pilot, nor of the passengers. Because I think that everyone knows that they’ll have been shitting themselves just a little bit during the NY plane crash the other week.

However, the poor air traffic controller during this exchange must also have needed new underwear…

ATC: Cactus 1529, turn right 280, you can land runway 1 at Teterboro

Aircraft: We can’t do it

ATC: OK, which runway would you like at Teterboro?

Aircraft: We’re gonna be in the Hudson…

Yes, talking to someone who says he’s about to be in a river, and who then disappears from your radar screen is bound to cause a little bit of anxiety…

I’ve found, by the way, that the pilots I’ve been speaking to have been somewhat less fulsome in praise that the rest of us. Putting more emphasis on the luck that the rest of us, and claiming that it’s only luck and the fact that the plane had a big fuel load in the wings that meant that it wasn’t a disaster.

Me, I’m not yet a qualified pilot. So I’ll keep on thinking that it was pretty good work by all involved that helped quite a bit…

Also, looking at the transcript, who do you think answered to Eagle Flight 4718, responding to the ATC bod two minutes and thirty seconds after the initial notification that something was wrong? Answers on a postcard…