The Notebook: A Real Hero

Katie's on assignment. I'm Maggie Rodriguez.

We have a tendency to overuse the term "hero."

Not this time.

There aren't enough adjectives to describe what U.S. Airways pilot Chesley Sullenberger and his crew did yesterday. "Incredible" or "amazing" just don't seem to cut it.

Sullenberger, or Sully, as he's known, had just seconds to react when he lost engine power over New York City. The airport was too far. With buildings and crowded city streets all around, there was only one hope: clear the George Washington Bridge and come down on the Hudson River.

One airline captain told us pilots sometimes laugh when they train for water landings – figuring they're just too risky.

No one's laughing now. We're in awe.

The next time I fly, I'll put down my magazine and listen more carefully when the flight attendant tells us what to do in the "unlikely event of a water landing," and maybe say a prayer that my pilot is as skilled as Sully.