Just a brief compare/contrast about pilots and prayer. A pilot was just sentenced in Italy following a crash where, instead of trying to control his plane, the pilot opted to stop, pray, and then crash-landed.
Compare this with Chesley Sullenberger--not that I know his beliefs, but he had no time for prayer, he just did what he had to do:
COURIC: Yes. You know, I mean, I think he is the consummate professional.
He's been an Air Force fighter pilot, he's been flying commercially for 30 years. And I think, you know, he didn't allow himself -- quite frankly, he didn't have the time to indulge himself into any feelings of panic.
I think what he said in that clip you ran, and the fact that it was first a feeling of feeling incredulous that this was happening. After that he realized, you know, he had a lot to do.
He had to figure out where they were going to land, you know, knowing that LaGuardia and Teterboro eventually would not be possibilities, and then prepare for a landing, a water landing, which is extremely difficult to do. So, you know, he did -- I think he wasn't all that emotional during the process.
In fact, at one point I said, "Did you pray at any moment?" And he said, "There were a lot of people in the cabin doing that for me. I had to fly the airplane."
KURTZ: Right. You know, even in normal circumstances, I guess, to be a successful pilot, you have to be able to tune out just about every distraction and focus on the job at hand.
I just think it's interesting to compare the results.
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