The captain goes down with the ship concept has been explicitly extended in law to the pilot in command of an aircraft, in the form of laws stating that he "[has] final authority and responsibility for the operation and safety of the flight." Jurisprudence has explicitly interpreted this by analogy with the captain of a sea vessel. This is particularly relevant when an aircraft is forced to ditch in the ocean and becomes a floating vessel that will almost certainly sink. For example, following the crash of US Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River, pilot Chesley Sullenberger was the last person to exit the partially-submerged aircraft,
2009 Hudson River mid-air collision 2009 Hudson River mid-air collision On August 8, 2009 at 11:53 a.m. (15:53 UTC), nine people died when a tour helicopter and a small private airplane collided over the Hudson River near Frank Sinatra Park in Hoboken, New Jersey. The aircraft were in an area known as the "Hudson River VFR Corridor", which extends from the surface of the river to altitudes of at various locations along the Hudson River in the immediate area of New York City. Within this corridor, aircraft operate under visual flight rules, under which the responsibility to see and avoid other air traffic rests with