I had a friend in college who used to always play the “what if” game with me. In every situation we were in, be it at a bar, a fraternity party, or just sitting in our dorm room, she would play out some scenario and ask me how I would react in that situation. So we might be sitting in the cafeteria and she would ask me, “What if someone stormed through the door with bazookas, what would you do — assuming you survive the initial rampage?” They weren’t always that dark, they sometimes involved a love interest or a strange celebrity encounter, but they always made me think about a situation I ordinarily would not think about.

And, of course, I’ve been on a plane and wondered what I would do if the plane crash-landed. Who doesn’t wonder that? I am one of those people who always pays attention when the flight attendant does their little safety talk and I always check to see where the nearest exit is as soon as I get on the plane. Still, I’ve figured I’d never be able to survive a crash landing, water or no water.

That is until a pilot named Sully landed a jumbo jet smack in the middle of New York and New Jersey on the Hudson River. Man did he prove me wrong. I still can’t get over all of the individual stories. The New York Times did a great round-up of passenger accounts on how things played out once the plane came to a stop. The most ridiculous of which was the one woman who tried to get her luggage out of the overhead compartment. For the record, I’ve thought about what, if anything, I would try to grab in the case of an emergency landing; I’ve decided I’d leave the purse and the laptop! The most relatable account for me was the husband and wife trying to get their 9-month-old and 4-year-old to safety. A bunch of women already in a lifeboat were yelling at the mom to throw them her baby. Yeah… I am not so sure I would have been okay with that. And the one that I fear the most, knowing my husband travels a bit for work, is the husband who sends his wife a text saying “Planes on fire love you and the kids.” What the hell do you do if you get a text like that?

So, to say that I am in awe of what Sully was able to do, and to say that I am intrigued by each individual account, is an understatement. There are very few stories that grab me like this one did. If there was a 24-hour network accounting for each individual story, where they were going, what their fears are now, and how they feel after having survived a potentially catastrophic accident, I would be watching it.

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