One reason he might have been so cool under this pressure would be found in his second career in flight safety and also his experience with gliders. He spent lots of time studying and thinking about what could go wrong and how to respond to it. Confidence born of extraordinary competence. He is owed much not only for his performance in those critical three minutes, but also because of his quest for knowledge above the average call of duty over his entire career. I know less about the First Officer, except that he has almost as many flight hours as the Captain.

Aside from the whole thing being amazing was that the water landing was the crew's third choice. Most people have heard that he was originally given clearance for Teterboro airport in New Jersey. What blew me away was the ny times infographic of the crash, especially the 5th frame that shows the actual flight path. The pilot had lined up for an approach on the Hudson Pkwy along the west side of Manhattan before deciding to line up for the much wider river right next to it. In a few split seconds — "Teterboro… nope… let's try for the highway… looking good… oh! or the much bigger flat thing next to it, let's go for that…". I know that the captain was well trained and given his other activities was probably one of the best people in the world to handle the situation, but seeing the direct evidence of three critical decisions and the outcome is impressive.

Slightly more interesting video. Actually has the plane in the air for a moment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHwrkfnf7I4