This, absolutely. The unexpected multiple bird strike took out both engines simultaneously. He made a conscious decision to bring the plane down in the river, a

This, absolutely. The unexpected multiple bird strike took out both engines simultaneously. He made a conscious decision to bring the plane down in the river, as opposed to attempting to reach a nearby airport. Had he decided to go for an airport, he almost certainly would have fallen short and killed people on the ground (in the densely populated New York City) in addition to everyone on the plane. Bringing an aircraft down for a water landing is an extremely risky thing, and he was able to do so successfully without losing a single passenger. Hero indeed.