It's Not a Frickin' Miracle

US Air Flight 1549 from Laguardia to Charlotte, North Carolina, went down a little while ago, immediately after take off. The pilots had to ditch in the Hudson. Probable cause—engines clobbered by a flock of geese.

Reports say everyone is off the plane, safe, and accounted for. What great news!

Unfortunately commentators and interviewee experts are letting fly with the word miracle.

What an insult to all the peole who made the water landing and courageous rescue possible!

It's not a frickin' miracle! It's a human triumph! The practical result of lots of cool-headed, steady-handed piloting. Witnesses call the landing a smooth descent.

Pilots were backed, no doubt, by the right response of well-trained flight attendants. The passengers must have behaved admirably as well. An image shows some standing calmly on a wings as rescue boats gather to take them on board.

Behind all today's professionalism and even heroism is years of disciplined design, thorough planning, and creativity on the part of dedicated people.

The Coast Gurard, NYPD and fire, commercial craft, Circle Line... they all pitched in. And after the follow-up investigation, we'll learn more from this incident and make even more safety improvements.

In short, so many people worked so hard to make the emergency end well, that the thick and flimsy word miracle and numskull phrases like truly a miracle are an insult to all who made the success happen.

Now if all the luggage is returned to their owners, that would be a miracle.

Labels: creativity, Hudson, miracle, US Air Flight 1549