All I wanted was to talk to my family, and get some dry socks One month ago, I landed Flight 1549 safely in theHudson River . In some ways, that was the easy part.1 The night of the accident, after wed safely accounted for all 155 people on the airplane, left the hospital, finally reached the hotel the pilots union and the NYPD whiskingus awayI remember thinking that my needs were very simple. Id lost all my belongings; Id had the most harrowingthree minutes of my life. All I really wanted was to talk to my family, and get some dry socks. 2 It has been a month since the airplane I piloted, US Airways Flight 1549, made an emergency landing in the Hudson River. 3 Since then, the attention given to me and my crewIm trying to resist, somewhat unsuccessfully, everyones attempt to make this about fewer than five people has obviously been immense. But I still dont think of myself as a celebrity. Its been a difficult adjustment , initially because of the hero mantle that was pushed in my direction. I felt for a long time that that wasnt an appropriate word. As my wife, Lorrie , pointed out on 60 Minutes , a hero is someone who decides to run into a burning building. This was differentthis was a situation that was thrust upon us. I didnt choose to do what I did. That was why initially I decided that if someone offered me the gift of their thankfulness, I should accept it gratefullybut then not take it on as my own. 4 As time went by, though, I was better able to put everything in perspectiveand realize how this event had touched peoples lives, how ready they were for good news, how much they wanted to feel hopeful again. Partly its because this occurred as the US presidencywas changing hands. Weve had a worldwide economic downturn , and people were confused, fearful and just so ready for good news. They wanted to feel reassured , I think, that all the things we value, all our ideals, still existthat theyre still there, even if theyre not always evident. 5 When I was very young, my father impressed upon me that a commander is responsible for the welfare of everyone in his care. Any commander who got someone hurt because of lack of foresightor poor judgment had committed an unforgivablesin. My father was a dentist in the Navy, serving in Hawaii and San Diego from 1941 to 1945. He never saw combat, but he knew many who did. In the military, you get drilled into you the idea that you are responsible for every aspect of everyones welfare. 6 During every minute of the flight, I was confident I could solve the next problem. My first officer, Jeff Skiles, and I did what airline pilots do: We followed our training, and our philosophy of life. We valued every life on that airplane and knew it was our responsibility to try to save each one, in spite of the sudden and complete failure of our aircraft. We never gave up. Having a plan enabled us to keep our hope alive. Perhaps in a similar fashion, people who are in their own personal crises a pink slip , a foreclosurecan be reminded that no matter how dire the circumstance, or how little time you have to deal with it, further action is always possible. Theres always a way out of even the tightest spot. You can survive. 7 Even though we had a successful outcome, its human nature to wonder about the what-ifs. The second-guessing was much more frequent, and intense, in the first few days at night, when I couldnt sleep. It was hard to shut my brain off and get back to sleep. Sometimes I didnt, I couldnt. It was part of the post-traumatic stress that we have all felt, that each of the crew members has reported to each other. 8 Its funny for the first two weeks after the accident, Jeff kept telling me, I just want my old life back. But the other day he finally said for the first time, You know, this is OK. Im learning to like this. This is good. I think hes coming to terms with whats happened. He realizes that hes entitled to the attention. That he can still be true to himself. That accepting it isnt selling out. 9 Besides the outpouring of support from the passengers, the most touchingsentimentsI have received have been from other pilots. They tell me that because of the years of economic difficulties faced by the airline industry and its employees and the decreased respect for the profession, they have not felt proud to go to worksome of them for decades. Now, they tell me, they do. And they thank me for that. They thank us, the crew, because weve reminded people what all of us do every day, whats really at stake . They feel like theyve regainedsome of the respect theyd lost. 10 Whats next? I will return to flying for my airlinewhen Im ready. Im not sure when that will be. Probably a few months. I still havent had many nights at home. My family and I are trying hard to remain true to ourselves and not let this change us, but theres a steep learning curve. The trajectory of our lives has changed forever. And were determined to make good come out of this in every way that we can. 我想要的