[Ryan Coke]

I just had to add one last post, because I really don't want my previous posts to seem to negative towards this story. It is a great positive story, and I am proud of the people involved and the praise that they are receiving is well earned. It is the media portrayal I have some issues with, not anything to do with the excellent work the Captain and his crew did.

Having said that, for those of you that said the Captain always flies in an emergency, you are incorrect. Possibly in this type of extreme situation where the only thing left to do was actually the hands and feet of putting the airplane down, I might have taken control as well. But generally I prefer to have the FO fly so that I can manage the situation. The FO's at major airlines are very experienced in their own right, and the difference between Captain and FO is less about ability of actually physically flying the airplane, and more about the judgement and experience when dealing with a situation.

So while the Captain taking control is what happened in this case, and in certain cases it may be prudent, it is certainly not automatic, and very often the opposite is preferred.

In fact in a couple of notable in flight emergencies I experienced when I was an FO, I was the flying pilot throughout and including the landing, so that the Captain could manage the event.