Those annoying airline safety briefings....

My wife and I have often wondered why it is that every time you get on a plane, you get a safety briefing telling you how to put on a life jacket and get into the brace position. Seeing as 90% of airlines don't even fly over the sea, this always seems like a bit of an unnecessary old-fashioned approach to making passengers feel secure.

However - following the incident yesterday when a US Airlines pilot managed to land his Airbus A320 on the Hudson River in New York, following a catastrophic failure of both engines due to a flock of geese, maybe I'll make sure I listen better next time..........
Well done Captain Chesley Sullenberger - landing on water isn't easy at the best of times.

Photo courtesy of AP - taken by a passenger on one of the ferries which went to rescue all 155 passengers and crew who were able to scramble out onto the wings. See http://twitpic.com/135xa# for the Twitter page of Janis Krums who took it !

See : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7832439.stm for BBC news coverage.