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 for "immediate action to provide greater oversight of small aircraft operations". In a press conference on August 8, 2009, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (an airplane and helicopter pilot himself) stated that "Until the National Transportation Safety Board makes a determination, nothing is a fact", and stressed that the investigation will take weeks or months before those facts are known. Representatives from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), including AOPA President Craig Fuller, have appeared on numerous news programs and collaborated with news sources to explain the workings of the Hudson River VFR corridor and the safety record