Comments on: I can’t walk on water

By: Brendogg

Brendogg — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 05:31:00 +0000

FAIL

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:48:08 +0000

Oops – I’m wrong about that. Sorry.

By: Danbala

Danbala — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:22:40 +0000

(And if someone would want to go “Bah, kneedeep water”, there’s another one in that article, about a jet landing on a river in 1963, with no casualties. So yeah, awesome stuff, but not the first. Note that I don’t think that diminishes the Hudson river landing at all.)

By: The Steve

The Steve — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:19:26 +0000

You can fly on my dick big boy.

By: The ointment in the fly

The ointment in the fly — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:11:20 +0000

*face palm*

By: Danbala

Danbala — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:32:15 +0000

“On 16 January 2002, Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 (a Boeing 737) successfully ditched into the Bengawan Solo River near Yogyakarta, Java Island after experiencing a twin engine flameout during heavy precipitation and hail. The pilots tried to restart the engines several times before making the decision to ditch the aircraft. Of the 60 occupants, one flight attendant was killed. The survival rate was 98%.[9] Photographs taken shortly after evacuation show that the plane came to rest in knee-deep water.[10]”
.
There’s more planes-on-water stuff on this wikipedia article.
.
I am not saying this to retract from the Hudson river landing’s good outcome. On the contrary I think exaggerations or erroneous facts retract more from the captain’s heroism (on whatever hero scale you wish to place it).

By: ClickClick

ClickClick — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:26:44 +0000

I think they’re some statistics being thrown around, like how many jets have been able to successfully land on water. Previously, I think the count was 0.

Yea, I think that qualifies this guy for a HERO mantle or two.

By: rhorho

rhorho — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 03:10:51 +0000

Cool, indeedy!

By: rhorho

rhorho — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:13:15 +0000

Is it buttered lurex, as well?

By: Saint

Saint — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:13:38 +0000

…which is much better than a VD..

By: eddiepscetti

eddiepscetti — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:17:46 +0000

*golf clap*

By: DeathWyrmNexus

DeathWyrmNexus — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:16:23 +0000

>.>

lolwut? I know not of what you speak.

By: DeathWyrmNexus

DeathWyrmNexus — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:15:06 +0000

You are. A person can do their job and still be a hero for doing their job exceptionally well. Most heroes have an excess of luck on their side to survive in the first place with skill making up the rest. Being a hero doesn’t mean you always have to be the underdog or the random Joe on the street. You can be a hero in the course of your job, doing part of your job description. Hero is a matter of perspective though it is also a function of success against great odds where others are counting on you.

If my humble definition can be accepted then the Capt is a hero. He succeeded against great odds with people counting on him. He need not slay a dragon or demand a medal. We are also not saying that he is the ONLY hero because he isn’t. He came out with a zero casualty rate. That is impressive and worthy of praise, luck or not. Luck only gets you so far. I already stated that a captain who only brings back 60% or even 40% against the odds would at least be a hero to those saved.

What I am finding bewildering in this discussion is people seem to want to denigrate Sully because they feel his status as hero demotes other pilots. It doesn’t. He did something exceptional and is being recognized. That’s it. Those who decide to complain about that because it was “all luck” are most likely poor sports who wouldn’t have the balls in the first place.

Give the man his due, quit trying to cheapen it, and move on. Doing his job with the level of success he met makes it heroic. All the lives were saved. That’s enough.

By: dissimilitude

dissimilitude — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:13:40 +0000

Eroticon Six. (I do not have that great of a memory for detail; I just googled.)

By: eddiepscetti

eddiepscetti — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:11:38 +0000

*does*

By: eddiepscetti

eddiepscetti — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:11:05 +0000

Sorry, Nathan, your example won’t wash because they would not be equally skilled if one made it and one didn’t. Given the circumstances in this particular case, the pilot trained in this maneuver, which not support your theory of luck.

By: dissimilitude

dissimilitude — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:10:26 +0000

Very cool!

By: Observer

Observer — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:09:15 +0000

Doesn’t it? But I wanted to be honest, so snopes helped me.
It’s a fitting avatar for me: the false eye of god!
lol!

By: eddiepscetti

eddiepscetti — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:07:18 +0000

Even though it’s a composite image, it looks very cool bigger!

By: DeathWyrmNexus

DeathWyrmNexus — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:05:47 +0000

Denying heroism isn’t the same as not deserving it.

By: Observer

Observer — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:01:37 +0000

Gracias!
Link to it’s origin and the snopes investigation.

By: eddiepscetti

eddiepscetti — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:59:46 +0000

Oooooooooooooooh! Very cool!

By: Observer

Observer — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:59:22 +0000

LOL! The three titted whore of (can’t remember) but it’s in HHG2G!

By: Observer

Observer — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:57:16 +0000

Test.
Dammit, Jim! I Had to change my email address anyway.
Gravatar wouldn’t allow my old one…grr!
But I think you’ll all appreciate this one.

By: Lolnathan

Lolnathan — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:25:14 +0000

All I’m saying is that if we take two equally skilled pilots who do their damndest to save their passengers, and the only difference is that one got lucky, and the other didn’t. Why is it right that we call only the one who got lucky a hero? They both performed the same actions, one just happened to live to tell about it? I dunno, maybe I’m being too much of a cynic on this one.

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:18:27 +0000

I didn’t disagree that the word is abused. Michael Jordan isn’t a ‘hero’.
Babe Ruth wasn’t a hero. If you still claiming that Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger isn’t a hero, then I don’t know what world you live in, and the only heroes there are exist in the comics…

By: Lolnathan

Lolnathan — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:11:15 +0000

Yeah, getting paid millions to play games isn’t really all that heroic.

By: Lolnathan

Lolnathan — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:10:37 +0000

Well, I have no problem with awards for being damned good at your job its just that.. well… what do we call people who go far beyond what we apparently use as standards for using the term “hero”. Superhero?

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:04:44 +0000

ICE? There is no God…

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:03:17 +0000

What do you mean ‘silly arse wigs’… I like me perriwig!

By: slan agat

slan agat — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:54:57 +0000

Eccentrica Galumbits!

By: slan agat

slan agat — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:52:42 +0000

Proper temperature for stout is close to the proper temperature for red wine – which is only considered “room temperature” because rooms used to be a fair bit cooler as a rule, probably around 60F (15C). That would be how our forebears could be comfortable wearing frock coats and waistcoats all the time, not to mention those silly-arse wigs……

By: Kittiewitch

Kittiewitch — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:46:34 +0000

Jet boats work on much the same principle. It just draws in water and shoots it out at high pressure thus causing great thrust. TADA, flying ON water using a jet engine.

By: n8

n8 — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:44:35 +0000

Depends on the beer. Coldness hides the taste, which with mass produced swill is no bad thing. With the Old Rasputin though, I want it merely cool. Incidentally, click my name for a great beer site.

By: Kittiewitch

Kittiewitch — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:42:50 +0000

Jetboats??

By: Kittiewitch

Kittiewitch — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:40:55 +0000

Flying on water or in like a penguin??

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:27:09 +0000

with a ladder, and wang with more callouses than DWN!

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:26:18 +0000

You want people to do WHAT? T-H-I-N-K. You some sort of Commie intellectual?

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:25:04 +0000

See above.
I do agree that the term ‘sporting hero’ should be expunged from the language.
Being sponsored by Nike and Coke don’t make you a hero, just a lucky jock.

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:22:15 +0000

Most pilots don’t glide. There is an almost one for one correlation between ttoal engine failure scenarios with zero fatalities, and pilots who have had some real glider experience. Is the guy a hero? Probably. Was he doing his jobs? Hell, yeah… did he have knowledge that wants common in his line of work, again, hell yeah!
Based on the arguments given above, we may as well ditch the Purple Heart, The VC, the Croix de Gurerre, et seq., and all police, paramedic and fire fighter gallantry awards, since they’re all ‘Just doing their job’… and it makes the ones who don’t win one feel bad since it’s a personal slur on them…
Jesus, Mary, Joseph and George the little donkey…

By: FaileV

FaileV — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:16:03 +0000

mechanic win?

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:15:16 +0000

Guy behind my name ‘Never thought to mention’ the fact he’d won a VC…

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:06:11 +0000

Actually, digging up my memory of Cold War tech, didn’t Jane’s mention JEt Hydros that the USSR built in the 1980s? It was mostly satellite intel, IIRC, but it was most definitely a twin jet engine hydroplane… it was something that the Germans had been working on in 1943, and the engineers of that stuff didn’t fall into allied hands… It’s unknown (to me) if they ever did get some of the stability issues sorted, but it did fly on water…very fast…

By: Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:01:46 +0000

Very much so…
Do a bit of a search on Kursk and you’ll pull up some interesting stuff on what *may* have happened to that boat… not saying anything you’ll read is ‘true’ but when you’re getting into that end of arms development, the ‘truth’ is a flexible commodity at best…

By: dissimilitude

dissimilitude — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:00:39 +0000

Ah, thanks for the info, Fester. I’d definitely call that at least “cool”. Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure my local bar has served me beer warmer than that….(“Oh, yeah…we just put that in the cooler a little while ago…”)

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:40:14 +0000

That’d make you pretty damned old.

I thought plenty before posting, thank you. There’s nothing wrong with what I wrote.

By: gringo

gringo — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:05:23 +0000

that’s what she said

By: MLD

MLD — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 07:52:35 +0000

MOST heroes deny heroism. They were all “just doing their job”

By: MLD

MLD — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 07:46:49 +0000

exactly what I said. Dude’s one of my new heroes, but, yeah, enough with the captions about the ditching.

By: Lolnathan

Lolnathan — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 04:59:48 +0000

You should have done more thinking, too, “kid”. Unfortunately for my liver (and other things) im probably twice your age.