SCOTT SIMON, host:
The name of Captain Chesley Sullenberger has been mentioned quite a bit over the past few days. He's the pilot who with nerve and grace steered a huge U.S. Airways Airbus onto the icy surface of the Hudson River, seemingly as easily as a man tossing a pillow onto a bed. But he had helped saving those 155 lives.
The first officer on the flight was Jeffrey Skiles. The three flight attendants who help lead people out of the plane, onto the wings, and into rafts and rescue crafts, and made sure that the passengers were safe and accounted for, were Donna Dent, Doreen Walsh and Sheila Dail.
So the next time you might get exasperated over some air-travel problem and be inclined to say something sharp to a flight attendant, you might want to remember: their first and last responsibility is safety, and as we saw this week, they will risk their lives to save yours.
Now, isn't that worth a lot more than a small bag of peanuts?