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AllIwantedwastotalktomyfamily,andgetsomedrysocksOnemonthago,IlandedFlight1549safelyintheHudsonRiver.Insomeways,thatwastheeasypart.1Thenightoftheaccident,afterwe'dsafelyaccountedforall155peopleontheairplane,leftthehospital,finallyreachedthehotel—thepilots'unionandtheNYPDwhiskingusaway—Irememberthinkingthatmyneedswereverysimple.I'dlostallmybelongings;I'dhadthemostharrowingthreeminutesofmylife.AllIreallywantedwastotalktomyfamily,andgetsomedrysocks.2IthasbeenamonthsincetheairplaneIpiloted,USAirwaysFlight1549,madeanemergencylandingintheHudsonRiver.3Sincethen,theattentiongiventomeandmycrew—I'mtryingtoresist,somewhatunsuccessfully,everyone'sattempttomakethisaboutfewerthanfivepeople—hasobviouslybeenimmense.ButIstilldon'tthinkofmyselfasacelebrity.It'sbeenadifficultadjustment,initiallybecauseoftheheromantlethatwaspushedinmydirection.Ifeltforalongtimethatthatwasn'tanappropriateword.Asmywife,Lorrie,pointedouton60Minutes,aheroissomeonewhodecidestorunintoaburningbuilding.Thiswasdifferent—thiswasasituationthatwasthrustuponus.Ididn'tchoosetodowhatIdid.ThatwaswhyinitiallyIdecidedthatifsomeoneofferedmethegiftoftheirthankfulness,Ishouldacceptitgratefully—butthennottakeitonasmyown.4Astimewentby,though,Iwasbetterabletoputeverythinginperspectiveandrealizehowthiseventhadtouchedpeople'slives,howreadytheywereforgoodnews,howmuchtheywantedtofeelhopefulagain.Partlyit'sbecausethisoccurredastheUSpresidencywaschanginghands.We'vehadaworldwideeconomicdownturn,andpeoplewereconfused,fearfulandjustsoreadyforgoodnews.Theywantedtofeelreassured,Ithink,thatallthethingswevalue,allourideals,stillexist—thatthey'restillthere,evenifthey'renotalwaysevident.5WhenIwasveryyoung,myfatherimpresseduponmethatacommanderisresponsibleforthewelfareofeveryoneinhiscare.Anycommanderwhogotsomeonehurtbecauseoflackofforesightorpoorjudgmenthadcommittedanunforgivablesin.MyfatherwasadentistintheNavy,servinginHawaiiandSanDiegofrom1941to1945.Heneversawcombat,butheknewmanywhodid.Inthemilitary,yougetdrilledintoyoutheideathatyouareresponsibleforeveryaspectofeveryone'swelfare.6Duringeveryminuteoftheflight,IwasconfidentIcouldsolvethenextproblem.Myfirstofficer,JeffSkiles,andIdidwhatairlinepilotsdo:Wefollowedourtraining,andourphilosophyoflife.Wevaluedeverylifeonthatairplaneandknewitwasourresponsibilitytotrytosaveeachone,inspiteofthesuddenandcompletefailureofouraircraft.Wenevergaveup.Havingaplanenabledustokeepourhopealive.Perhapsinasimilarfashion,peoplewhoareintheirownpersonalcrises—apinkslip,aforeclosure—canberemindedthatnomatterhowdirethecircumstance,orhowlittletimeyouhavetodealwithit,furtheractionisalwayspossible.There'salwaysawayoutofeventhetightestspot.Youcansurvive.7Eventhoughwehadasuccessfuloutcome,it'shumannaturetowonderaboutthewhat-ifs.Thesecond-guessingwasmuchmorefrequent,andintense,inthefirstfewdaysatnight,whenIcouldn'tsleep.Itwashardtoshutmybrainoffandgetbacktosleep.SometimesIdidn't,Icouldn't.Itwaspartofthepost-traumaticstressthatwehaveallfelt,thateachofthecrewmembershasreportedtoeachother.8It'sfunny—forthefirsttwoweeksaftertheaccident,Jeffkepttellingme,Ijustwantmyoldlifeback.Buttheotherdayhefinallysaidforthefirsttime,Youknow,thisisOK.I'mlearningtolikethis.Thisisgood.Ithinkhe'scomingtotermswithwhat'shappened.Herealizesthathe'sentitledtotheattention.Thathecanstillbetruetohimself.Thatacceptingitisn'tsellingout.9Besidestheoutpouringofsupportfromthepassengers,themosttouchingsentimentsIhavereceivedhavebeenfromotherpilots.Theytellmethatbecauseoftheyearsofeconomicdifficultiesfacedbytheairlineindustryanditsemployeesandthedecreasedrespectfortheprofession,theyhavenotfeltproudtogotowork—someofthemfordecades.Now,theytellme,theydo.Andtheythankmeforthat.Theythankus,thecrew,becausewe'veremindedpeoplewhatallofusdoeveryday,what'sreallyatstake.Theyfeellikethey'veregainedsomeoftherespectthey'dlost.10What'snext?Iwillreturntoflyingformyairline—whenI'mready.I'mnotsurewhenthatwillbe.Probablyafewmonths.Istillhaven'thadmanynightsathome.MyfamilyandIaretryinghardtoremaintruetoourselvesandnotletthischangeus,butthere'sasteeplearningcurve.Thetrajectoryofourliveshaschangedforever.Andwe'redeterminedtomakegoodcomeoutofthisineverywaythatwecan.我想要的只是与家人说话和几双干袜子一个月前，我安全地将1549号航班停在了哈得孙河。从某种意义上讲，这是其中容易的那部分。事发当晚，我们在确保机上所有155名乘客的下落后，离开了医院，终于到了宾馆，是飞行员联合会及纽约市警察局的人送我们来的。我记得自己当时想要的非常简单。我弄丢了所有的随身物品；我度过了生命中最痛苦的三分钟。我想要的只是与家人说话和几双干袜子。这离我驾驶美国航空1549号航班紧急迫降在哈得孙河已过去一个月了。自那以后，人们显然对我和我的机组成员表示出极大的关注，每个人都想把功臣的数量限制在五人以下，我试着反抗，却没有成功。但我仍然不认为自己是个名人。要适应这种生活是件难事，最初是因为给我披上的“英雄”这件外衣。很长时间以来我都觉得这个词用得不恰当。正如我的妻子洛丽在《60分钟时事杂志》里所说的，英雄是那种下决心冲入着火的大楼的人。而这个不一样，这种情况是我们不得不面对的。我无法选择我当时要做的。这就是为什么最初我决定如果有人要送我礼物表示感谢的话，我得心怀感激地收下，但收下后也不会据为己有。但是，随着时间的推移，我能更好地正确看待每件事并意识到这件事对人们生活的影响，他们是多么希望得到好消息，他们是多么想再一次看到希望。一部分原因是因为这件事发生在总统换届时。我们经历了全球性的经济下滑，人们感到迷惑、害怕所以非常盼望有好消息。我想，他们想吃定心丸，想确定所有我们珍惜的事物、我们的理想依然存在，并且会一直在那儿，虽然并不总是那么明显。在我很小的时候，父亲让我深深懂得一个指挥官要对他属下的每个人的利益负责。如果一个指挥官因为没有远见或判断错误而使他手下的人受到伤害，那他就犯了不可原谅的罪。我的父亲是一名海军牙医，1941-1945年期间在夏威夷和圣地亚哥服役。虽然他从未亲眼目睹过战争，但他认识很多亲临战场的人。在部队时你会被反复灌输这种思想：你要对每个人各方面的利益负责。在飞行的每一分钟里，我都有自信去解决下一个问题。我的大副杰夫•斯基尔斯和我做了飞行员应该做的事：按照所接受的培训和我们的人生理念行事。我们珍惜飞