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One questions I have - He reached the Hudson north of the George Washington Bridge. I wonder was it instinct, co-incidence, training or luck that caused him to turn south along the river toward the city? Had he gone north, he would have avoided any potential mishap with boats in the river, and been farther away from buildings and people who could have been impacted by a crash. That certainly could have been viewed as a reasonable approach. On the other hand, though, turning south led him toward the city, and all the ferries, tugs, police and coast guard boats in the water which finished off the happy story by keeping the plane from sinking (looked like it was tied to a tug) and getting the folks out of the water before the plane sank and they froze. The few minutes needed for boats to head farther north could have been the difference between everyone living and everyone freezing/ drowning.
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While I had not thought about this from a perspective of pilot decision, I was thinking the exact same thing in terms of being in the area of lots of ferry boats, etc. I believe the immediate "touchdown" area was just off Weehawkin where a ferry boat does nothing but go back and forth to NYC all day long. If this had happened on just about any other waterway, the results could have been disasterous. If selection of this area to put it down was indeed a conscious decision by the pilot, then he is an even bigger hero.