New York Governor David
Paterson pronounced it a “miracle on the Hudson.”
He was referring to the
landing of the crippled US Airways jetliner into the Hudson River [on
January 16] after the plane struck a flock of birds just after takeoff at
LaGuardia Airport, apparently disabling the engines. Due to the heroic
efforts of the pilot, all 155 aboard were saved.
Robert Bea, a civil
engineer who co-founded University of California at Berkeley’s Center for
Catastrophic Risk Management, said he could think of few pilots as
well-situated to bring the plan down safely than the one in the cockpit of
Flight 1549.
The pilot, Chesley B.
“Sully” Sullenberger III, 57, of Danville, CA, is a former fighter pilot for
the US Air Force and has been flying for US Airways since 1980.
Sullenberger also runs a safety consulting firm and, ironically, has been
studying the psychology of keeping airline crews functioning even in the
face of crisis.
In this crisis,
Sullenberger proved to be the man for the job.
The pilot “did a masterful
job of landing the plane in the river and then making sure that everybody
got out,” said NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “He walked the plane twice
after everybody else was off, and tried to verify that there was nobody else
on board, and he assured us there was not. He was the last one up the aisle
and he made sure that there was nobody behind him.”
“You look at his training,
you look at his experience. It was just the right pilot at the right time
in charge of that plane that saved so many lives,” said Candace Anderson, a
resident of Sullenberger’s hometown in Danville. *
Although this world is
headed on a crash course (2 Peter 3:10), we, too, have a Pilot who can
safely lead us to eternal life (Romans 6:23).
He is the Perfect Pilot –
in fact, the ONLY One who can guide us to safety (John 14:6). And He WILL
save those who will trust Him (Hebrews 11:6), turn from sin in repentance
(Acts 17:30-31), confess Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), be baptized
(immersed) in His name (Acts 2:38; 22:16), and follow Him faithfully (1 John
1:7
).
As the US Airways Flight
1549 jetliner descended, Vallie Collins tapped out a text message to her
husband, Steve: “My plane is crashing.” Thankfully, she survived.
Friends, our world is
“crashing,” and it will one day come to an end.
But the Pilot will lead you
safely to eternal life IF you will trust and obey Him.
生命之光广播电台