Some pilots were able to successfully do a 180 in a commercial sim and land the plane at the airport.
But the fact that nobody died was celebrated at the time, since a lot of people thought the USA had lost its ability to do anything right after the 2008 recession.
Sully is an important spokesman since he's not affiliated or beholden to any company now.
comparisons like this seem entirely wrong.
Just because "some" pilots were able to do a 180 back to LGA doesn't mean that it was the best option at the time given all variables.
There's so many variables you can't account for in a simulator.
At this point I can't imagine there's any ATPL-certified pilot who isn't familiar with US1549. Some pilots have some small knowledge. Some pilots have extensively studied that flight. Most are somewhere in-between. All are going to be prone to choose more risky scenarios because there is no actual jeopardy to their life in the flight simulator.
In addition to all that, we've had over a decade to study and dissect US1549. Sully had seconds, perhaps a minute, to decide on a course of action.
> For those unfamiliar, Sully never flew again after the ditching because of "sleep disturbances." His co-pilot did continue flying airlines.
That's surprising, and very sad, considering how well things turned out.
It bothers me how this excerpt sounds an awful lot like an attempt to downplay and even criticize mr Sullemberg's accomplishment.