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to main content  Pilot's actions make him instant hero Add to
...  By all accounts, Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger is just the
guy you'd want at the controls of a troubled and falling
airplane.  A seven-year Air Force veteran and a US Airways pilot
for another 29, Captain Sullenberger, 58, is long in experience
both as a pilot and as a safety expert.  Yesterday, he was at
the controls of a commercial jet that many say should have
otherwise broken up as it dropped into the Hudson River, between
New York and New Jersey.  But with Capt. Sullenberger at the
helm of the powerless and failing plane, it came down into the
narrow river with nothing other than a splash, seen for city
blocks from either shore. Its fuselage intact, the plane sat
upright, floating while passengers made their escape.  And soon
after, as water gushed through open doors and rescue boats
filled with passengers, it was Sully who paced the length of his
ditched Airbus A320 - twice -