The FAA has released the transcripts from the cockpit of Flight 1549 before Chesley P. Sullenberger guided it into the Hudson. It’s surprisingly dull — we guess you kind of had to be there, feeling the coursing adrenaline and smelling the roasting bird — but the bit where the air-traffic controller at LaGuardia tries to get him to steer toward Teterboro made us smile.
“We can’t do it,” replies the plane’s pilot.
“Which runway would you like at Teterboro?” asks the controller.
“We’re going to be in the Hudson,” the pilot replies.
“I’m sorry, say again?”
Gawd. Those tower guards never listen. So annoying.
USAirways 1549 (AWE1549), January 15, 2009 [FAA via WSJ]
