Exiting and Uplifting: Watch "Brace for Impact" on TLC

Sorry for the late notice on this, but if you like riveting true life documentaries with a happy ending, then "Brace for Impact" airing tonight on TLC is definitely worth watching. It tells the harrowing story of the US Air flight that lost both engines over NYC last January after hitting a flock of geese. By now most people on the planet Earth know the story of hero pilot (Captain Sullenberger "Sully") who with expert aviation skills and focus, glided the crippled jet to a perfect landing on the Hudson River.

Very little new information in this mostly feel good docu-drama, but the interviews with Sully and some of the passengers on the flight are still compelling. I wish they would have made it a bit longer to focus more on the additional heroism of the first responder ferry boat people, and NYC emergency personnel who raced to pull the passengers out of the freezing cold river before the aircraft sank.

I also think the story of how Sully and his family have fared in this past year is very interesting. Their lives have been catapulted from ordinary family into the highest realms of fame. But just like his landing in the river, Captain Sullenberger has handled his sudden celebrity with grace and calm focus. While so many actors, athletes and politicians turn out to have feet of clay, this man is the real deal.