I think it’s long overdue that an award be created for civilian pilots that distinguish themselves by exceptional performance of their duties, especially when such acts save the lives of their passengers or people on the ground.
The military has an award for exceptional achievement in the performance of aerial flight. It’s called the Distinguished Flying Cross. It has been awarded to civilians, but only by special acts of Congress since the award is designated for military personnel only. Instead of awarding the Distinguished Flying Cross to the Jet Blue pilots through a special act of Congress, an award strictly for civilian pilots should be created.
There’s no reason their shouldn’t be a civilian aviation award. And no reason those Jet Blue pilots shouldn’t be awarded it. Sure some credit for the successful landing belongs to the engineers that designed the aircraft to withstand such a landing, but ultimately it was up to those pilots to keep their cool, run through checklists and then control the aircraft to the best of their ability. They performed superbly. I dare say perfectly.
Call your Federal representatives and tell them you want a civilian equivalent of the Distinguished Flying Cross created and awarded to the Jet Blue pilots that landed flight 292.
If you need help finding out who your representatives are, go here.