Great story, Lou. Also shows how small things like a bit of smoke can really hurt people if the right chain of circumstances builds up.

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So you think the message SENT was the message RECEIVED?

Reminds me of the other thing in communication, the 'expected wording' against the actual one. Didn't they change 'ready tor takeoff' into 'ready for departure' after that Tenerife disaster for example? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenerife_airport_disaster

Not to read this the wrong way, there were numerous things and circumstances in place (or not in place, so to speak) to get those two jumbos running onto each other, but one thing was that 'did he say takeoff? .. ok, rollin'!' and you are perfectly right, as long as the situation stays common and regular, the communication often enough does too.

I'd also say that the ATC part is a tricky one. You may hear an aircraft crew struggling with an emergency and you instantly want to help and, by doing this, you tend to give way more information than needed in that situation.
That Sully video shows the controller giving a ton of options for the guy while he had quite some task load in the cockpit and his answers get shorter and shorter just because anything more than vectors is too much.
I think they've stressed the need for 'wait what the pilot demands' in that situation after this. If he tells ATC he wants to return, then help him, don't list all the various options on the freq before he stated his intentions. And keep it short!  ;D

But that case is a great one in many aspects. Although I don't applaud to any hero stories, I absolutely agree that this guy has earned his money on that day more than once. A perfect example of decision making in a stressful environment (which can only be trained on a very limited basis when it comes to the psychological impacts on a human being) and a good coordination on the other hand, of the whole crew.

Please correct me, Lou, but I'd say that even the most experienced pilot will get lets call it nervous when he gets forced to choose a landing spot within some seconds and then has to perform a real water landing, not a simulated one.
And the heaviest part of this may not be the actual landing but the 'simple' decision that this landing will be one on the Hudson. It's a big difference if your decisions stay within the time where you can actually choose between them or if they happen when already being outside of that small corridor, turning you into somebody only following his fate.

By the way, there's a great example of good com going around with that Thompson plane, just having one engine failure due to birdstrike though. Very good ATC, very good pilots. All of them professionals as they should be. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPkZBR89y_M
I could post some bad examples too though, but lets stay positive.  :D

And another one for every pilot. It must be big 'fun' in the real world to see all the firetrucks moving towards the runway just to watch your landing, If your ac is not the first one of its type to land there.   :o