I have spent the past half day in amazement and awe following yesterday's crash landing of US Airways flight 1549. As a nervous flyer, I can only imagine the terror of watching one's plane descend toward a body of very cold water. I am relieved and thankful that all survived relatively unharmed, though no doubt shaken from the experience. And I'm thinking about three important lessons I think we can learn from this experience.

Prepare for the Worst

This near tragedy turned miracle should serve as a reminder that if we plan (and train) for the worst, we'll be better prepared for the events we encounter. Kudos are rightly being extended to the flight's pilot, "Sully" Sullenberger. We have learned (originally via resourceful individuals who found his LinkedIn profile) that he is a former Air Force fighter pilot who, no doubt, experienced more extreme landings during his training and service that prepared him to land this passenger plane smoothly in the Hudson River.

Moreover, I suspect that New York City's intense experience with flight tragedies has prepared it in a unique way to deal with other flight emergencies. In the first place, traffic control and airport personnel are no doubt trained for 911-scale emergencies, and so were well prepared to respond to this one. And similarly, the quick response of multiple ferries and other official and non-official boats that came to the aid of the passengers is likely the result of training and exercises instituted in the wake of 911.

I am reminded of a similar situation that taught us this lesson. Last year when we prepared for Hurricane Gustav, fearing it to be the next Katrina, local and national emergency crews prepared for the worst while media and aid organizations stepped up plans to respond (read more). In part because of nature's benevolence, and in part because of the lessons learned from Katrina, Gustav was thankfully not the disaster we anticipated (which is not at all to belittle the damage that was done by the storm -- donations are still needed for relief effors, Give Here.)

And hopefully we'll see the same lesson in action at the upcoming inaugural events. While we declare a state of emergency in the District and hear about plans for mass evacuations in the event of terror or weather, let us hope that a) there is no need to implement such plans and that b) the plans in place allow for a smooth resolution to the comparatively minor challenges that crowd control and emergency personnel will likely face.

Transparency is a good Teacher

We're hearing a lot about transparency these days -- transparency in the financial industry that might have prevented some aspects of the crisis we're now in, trasparency (to what degree?) in the new Obama administration. And while there are many positive results of increased transparency, the most powerful may be that we can learn from where others have failed.

Presumably this pilot and flight crew learned how to handle yesterday's emergency, in part from learning what others have done wrong in the past. It's only because there's been enough transparency in those organizations (at least internally) that airline experts can analyze the failures in other crashes and improve not only the planes, but also the instruction and preparation given to onboard personnel.

Internet Wins Again

Finally, I think this event reinforces, yet again, our changing media landscape. I learned about this particular event first on Twitter, saw the first photos of it on an individual's Flickr page, followed the progress via FriendFeed, and eventually, some 30 minutes later, walked into the kitchen to see what the mainstream TV news had to say or show me about it. Again, it is unaffiliated individuals, not the major media houses, who bring so many of us the first tidbits and images of breaking news events.