Pilot Sullenberger celebrated everywhere as a hero

From City Hall to the White House, at office water coolers and on Internet social sites, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III seemed to be everywhere at once Friday, and nowhere.

The cool-headed, white-haired US Airways pilot who became a hero when he guided his stricken craft safely into the Hudson River Thursday, turning a potentially horrific disaster into something very much like a miracle, was not on hand to accept his key to the city.

He wasn't at his wife's side when she spoke outside their Northern California home, calling him "a pilot's pilot," their two daughters by her side. And he uttered not a peep when Congress voted to recognize his heroism.

As the public's eagerness to hoist Sullenberger on the nation's collective shoulder went unfulfilled - the pilot has been asked not to speak publicly while federal officials investigate the incident - his name was evoked with reverence.

At Battery Park City Friday, workers used their lunch hour to stand in the frigid wind to glimpse the mostly submerged craft from which Sullenberger and 154 others made safe exit.

"To land that plane like that, you had to be perfect," said Nile Edwards, 40, an insurance company employee from St. Albans, Queens. "If the wing had hit the water and it had started spinning, you could have had a lot of fatalities. The pilot did it just right ... and everyone helped out. It's a great New York story."

Denise Grant, 49, of the Bronx, shook her head at the wonder of it all, and expressed her gratitude. Since 9/11, she said, "you can get panicky working in Manhattan. It was just great to see something so disastrous and no one was hurt."

Many spoke of Sullenberger's expertise and calm demeanor as he twice checked the sinking plane for others before he himself abandoned ship. Sullenberger was last to leave the lifeboat he and several other passengers were in, said Carl Lucas, captain of a NY Waterway ferry that brought 19 people to shore.

Passenger Mark Hood of Charlotte, N.C., said Sullenberger calmly warned passengers to brace for the impact. "Had he let any tension leak into his voice," Hood said, "it would have been magnified in the passengers."

Sullenberger reportedly took congratulatory calls from President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama on Friday as thousands became a Sullenberger 'fan' on the social networking Web site Facebook.

Sen. Charles Schumer of New York said the Senate passed a resolution commending the crew and responders.

At a City Hall ceremony recognizing many of the responders, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he would hold on to Sullenberger's brass key to the city until he became available.

Sullenberger's wife, Lorraine, told CNN she had been surprised to hear of the crash. "I know flying is very safe and he called and said there had been an incident. I thought he had, you know, run into something in the parking lot at the airport."

Marc Beja contributed to this story, which was supplemented with Associated Press reports.