Looks sleek, but how does it handle in the water?

Color me one of the stunned folks regarding the airplane landing in the Hudson River. What sticks out in my mind is that in all the news stories I've been reading about this event, there was only one mention of the actions of any member of the crew besides the Captain. The flight attendants repeated "brace for impact" and gave other instructions while the plane was descending and then they disappear from the news reports.

It is interesting piecing together the atmosphere inside the cabin based on passenger stories: some prayed, some brayed, and one gent began reading the information card to review how to get the door open once they hit the water. Once they were down, the crowd all ran to the back of the plane. They then reversed course and ran toward the front of the plane. Where were the cabin attendants while this was going on? Pretty quickly, rafts were in the water and people were on the wings. One woman now regrets having worn 3-inch heels (she made it onto the wing but ended up in the drink as she removed them and her feet slipped on the smooth, wet metal). Then the armada showed up and all passengers were eventually on dry land.

We're hearing all about the "heroic" actions of the pilot. Yes, he should be commended for his cool head and his skills and his professionalism under pressure but didn't he simply do what he was supposed to do and what we hope every pilot would do if we were the passengers? He is a role model for other pilots to look to for the way it should be done in the time of crisis. But I stop at calling him a hero. He did his job. The word hero is overused. Where is the line between doing your job right and stepping up when conditions demand it and the opposite end of the spectrum of just mailing it in? If you cross the line—toward the positive side—should you be called a hero?