Quick thinking Hero

[Hooahguy]

i heard the guy had 6 years of military flight experience. in that case, this makes sense.

[Husar]

Yes, everyone who was ever in the military is automatically a hero, unless it was the wrong military.

Now to the actual issue, it sounds like he did a good job.

[Hooahguy]

not that he was a hero b/c he was in the military, but what i hear from the news reports, he did a very skillful landing that really only the military do, so....

[KukriKhan]

An official familiar with the accident told The Associated Press the 57-year-old, of Danville, Calif., ...

Yay! Let's hear it for old guys from California!

[HoreTore]

Saw this on the news now, and heard the speeches by the politicians. Which got me thinking....

What is heroism? Isn't heroism defined as an action where you save/help others while endangering your own person? How can this man be a "hero" then? What he did was do a good job, but I can't honestly see how you can define it as heroism. He did what everyone else in his situation would have done/tried. What he did was a very good job. But I can't see how it was heroism. It was self-preservation.

How can you be a hero when what you're doing is saving your own ?

[Seamus Fermanagh]

NOBODY does extensive practice in successfully ditching an aircraft except amphib pilots. This is especially true for an Airbus. A dead-stick ditching in an Airbus without digging a wing-tip in and cartwheeling is one GREAT piece of flying. He then went back twice to make sure nobody was on the bird before he evac'd. Class act.

[Ronin]

Saw this on the news now, and heard the speeches by the politicians. Which got me thinking....

What is heroism? Isn't heroism defined as an action where you save/help others while endangering your own person? How can this man be a "hero" then? What he did was do a good job, but I can't honestly see how you can define it as heroism. He did what everyone else in his situation would have done/tried. What he did was a very good job. But I can't see how it was heroism. It was self-preservation.

How can you be a hero when what you're doing is saving your own ?

of course this is technically true.

but normally when in the process of saving your own you save a bunch of other people the word hero is in common (even if not exact) use.

[Devastatin Dave]

Saw this on the news now, and heard the speeches by the politicians. Which got me thinking....

What is heroism? Isn't heroism defined as an action where you save/help others while endangering your own person? How can this man be a "hero" then? What he did was do a good job, but I can't honestly see how you can define it as heroism. He did what everyone else in his situation would have done/tried. What he did was a very good job. But I can't see how it was heroism. It was self-preservation.

How can you be a hero when what you're doing is saving your own arse?

You're something else. I guess you do this kind of thing everyday in your job right? You seem the type that thinks that heroism is suicide bombing or firing rockets a innocent civilians, oh wait...

[Tribesman]

If he was that quick thinking he could have done some crazy manouvers to avoid killing the poor little geese .

NOBODY does extensive practice in successfully ditching an aircraft except amphib pilots.

Yep , it works out a little bit expensive when people practice ditching aircraft . Maybe Hooah was thinking about the military ditching training where they dump a cockpit into a big swimming pool .
Then again perhaps he was thinking of that pilot called Orr who kept practicing ditching his aircraft so he could get to Sweden .

[Scurvy]

He did what everyone else in his situation would have done/tried. What he did was a very good job. But I can't see how it was heroism. It was self-preservation.

He could'a ejected with a parachute....

Seems a bit pedantic in this case to not call it 'heroism' - i disliked all the politicians speaking about it though, seemed a bit excessive, especially as he couldnt say anything himself atm.

[rasoforos]

He could'a ejected with a parachute....

Nope...its not a fighter jet, its an airbus A320...

[Tribesman]

It makes sense to use ex-military pilots for commercial flights after their mil career is over. They can keep their cool...

The reason it makes sense to hire ex-military pilots is because the government has already paid for their training so all the airline needs to pay is for specific conversion and familiarisation .

[HoreTore]

He could'a ejected with a parachute....

Seems a bit pedantic in this case to not call it 'heroism' - i disliked all the politicians speaking about it though, seemed a bit excessive, especially as he couldnt say anything himself atm.

No, not really. He did what any other human being would've done(or at least tried to do), that can't be classed as heroism without taking the "hero" out of "heroism". The 9/11 rescue workers(who could've just stayed home), a random guy in the street who drags people out of a burning building, and so, that is heroism. It's heroism because they didn't have to do it, and many wouldn't. However, there is not a single person on this planet who wouldn't have done what this man did. So calling him a hero is nonsense, really.

[Jolt]

Yes, everyone who was ever in the military is automatically a hero, unless it was the wrong military.

There were some million Nazi German heroes. :P

[rasoforos]

i heard the guy had 6 years of military flight experience. in that case, this makes sense.

Well said. It makes sense to use ex-military pilots for commercial flights after their mil career is over. They can keep their cool...