I have no problem with nearly every member of the major U.S. media outlets echoing New York's major politicians by calling yesterday's emergency water-landing of the New York to North Carolina jet--which resulted in no deaths--a "miracle." After all, such a title sounds nice, and I'm sure those who survived that very dangerous scenario most likely think that such a term is completely appropriate when used to describe the outcome.
Yet I struggle with the "miracle" designation for one reason--it obscures what seems to me to be the most important aspect of the pilot's superb accomplishment, which is that he is not only an expert on planes, but also an expert in the fields of crisis management (above and beyond that which is necessary to become a licensed pilot) and gliders (above and beyond that which is necessary to become a licensed pilot).
Not surprisingly, passengers and crew from the flight report that the pilot, whose name is Mr. Chesley Sullenberger, was as calm and focused as possible during and after the incident. And it should be pointed out that he didn't fly the plane into a crash landing in the Hudson River so much as he glided it to a surprisingly smooth landing there.
Modern Renaissance people, who follow one area of interest into a tangential area of interest--and in turn follow that into another tangential area of interest, and so on--are often thought of as outside the mainstream, and sometimes marginalized by others for the number of their various interests, as well as for their intensity regarding those interests. (Many so-called "mainstream" people study up on what they do for a living, and are interested in very little of detail beyond that.) Yet Mr. Sullenberger is clearly a modern Renaissance man, and because of this he performed a staggeringly important service on the Hudson River that few others could provide, at least not as well as he did.
Might we call this emergency landing a "miracle"? Okay, fine. But to me it is every bit as much--and probably far more--a story of life-saving personal and professional accomplishment from someone who clearly follows his interests far more extensively than most other folks ever do.
Hmmm....
1 comment:
Hmmmm. I like it. I understand your sentiment when you say 'Renaissance Man', in regards to someone who is talented, and wishes to extend themself in a variety of areas (and should be commended for it. Instead of 'Lorrrd Jesusss God' being thanked for the 'miracle'. But I would spend more time elaborating, expanding, and exacerbating on this point... Not all of us are these 'Renaissance people' that you speak of. Well, not yet...
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