Pilot Returns Home to a Hero’s Welcome

When I read this article about the pilot who had safely landed an airplane holding over 150 people in the Hudson River because of engine problems, I was glad to see that the journalist was able to show the reader just how low-key and modest he actually is. But, I did notice a few things about his writing that really opened my eyes. While I was reading, I noticed that there wasn't too many quotes in the article, but then at the end there was four quotes in a row. I thought it was odd that the author put them altogether instead of spreading them throughout his article. The quotes were also all from adults and parents. The journalist could have varied the people he got his quotes from by adding opinions of younger people. Also, the quotes all had the same general idea- that the incident was 'never-before-seen' and totally shocking. The journalist could have gotten quotes from passengers on the plane that would have made the reader have a personal connection to the story. I also thought that the paragraph "Standing erect in a dark suit, gray shirt and tie....while their two daughters watched from the front row" could have been placed a lot sooner in the article, because I thought that it was able to show right off the bat that the pilot was a normal guy with a family, that was able to make a difference and save many lifes. I got the impression from the article, that that is what he was trying to show the reader, and I think that if he placed this sooner in the article he would be able to get his point across sooner.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/nyregion/25pilot.html?fta=y