Do you ever peek into the cockpit when boarding a plane, hoping to see a silver head sitting behind the controls?  Wanting to spot someone in that seat who looks like they have a military air combat mission … or twenty …  under their belt?  Preferably under enemy fire?

I know I do.  And today, the reason why is the story of the utterly miraculous emergency water landing…that’s right…water landing, not water crash…of USAirways Flight 1549 in New York City’s Hudson River this afternoon under the command of one Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III, 57, with 40 years of flying experience.  And yes, he is a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, a fighter pilot and instructor. 

Any surprise?

You know the story.  An ordinary mid-day flight out of NYC’s LaGuardia Runway 4 enroute to Charlotte, NC (a flight your correspondent has taken countless times).  The engines encounter a flock of geese.  The pilot, somehow avoiding the George Washington bridge, the NY Waterway ferries, the Circle Line tourist boats, the many cruiseships in their berths along the West Side Highway, the West Side Highway itself, and any amount of traffic in the land, sea and air, gently glides his jet down on top of the river, and because little damage occured to the fuselage or the wings, everyone on the plane escapes relatively unscathed.

Now, wowOwow readers, I know what you’re thinking.  Why am I not cheered when I see a female head in those cockpits when boarding a flight?  (Where did they get the word cockpit from?  The mind reels.) Trust me, my heart leaps with joy when I see a female pilot behind the controls, because I know that poor girl has had to be the biggest, baddest, bestest pilot to even make it into the cockpit of a commercial jetliner and that I am in good hands.  But sadly, those moments are rare, if happily increasing in frequency.

Most of the time, I’m just relieved to see the experienced, greying head of a former fighter pilot behind the controls.

The best pilots make it look like it’s easy, this flying thing.  And most of the time, it probably is easy.  Until something Big goes wrong.  And then it’s not easy at all. 

NYC is celebrating. When we see low flying planes, our hearts leap into our throats.   Not tonight.  We New Yorkers are proud of our emergency responders and various ferry boat operators and pleasure cruise captains and citizen volunteers who rushed out into our beautiful but frigid Hudson River to help bring the passengers to safety.  We also celebrate the wonderfully professional and brave flight crew on the plane.

But as the website for the savvy of a certain age, we want to give a special salute and a thank-you to that grey-haired former fighter pilot behind the controls of today’s USAirways Flight 1549, LAG-CLT.

Because tonight, he’s the biggest wOw we know.

Update:  Read it:  wowOwow’s 2008 Fabulous Female Firsts Designee, Brittany Catanzaro, youngest and first female ferry pilot in NYC saves 24 at the scene!