A plane on the Hudson

What does it take to become a pilot ?

A lot of nerve. And also, you need to be good at Maths.

On January 15, 2009, a commercial flight had to “land” on the Hudson River, right in the middle of New York, just a few minutes after taking off from La Guardia Airport.

The plane had crossed the trajectory of a flock of birds, and it appears that the two engines went down. The pilot, Chesley B. Sullenberger, nicknamed “Sully”, and his first officer, Jeffrey Skiles, managed to take the plane and its 154 passengers, crew members included, safely to the ground. This type of “landing” was the first of its kind.

Real video of the event :

News report :

 

Maybe you were too young to remember this incredible accident, but Clint Eastwood, the famous American actor and film director, wants you to think again about this extraordinary story. So he made a movie about it !

Sully is being released today in the USA, and it will be released on November 30 in France. You can watch the trailer for now.

 

If you want to know more about this story, you can read this excellent article :  http://nymag.com/news/features/53788/

Al Pacino, about himself, his work, his family, his life… and his career.

Al Pacino, a famous American actor of Italian origin, turned 75 today, which is quite a milestone in anyone’s life. For this occasion, he was interviewed by a journalist from The Guardian, a British newspaper. Here is, in a few words, the summary of his life, by himself.

Storm chaser…

Some people like to watch clouds, some people like to watch storms… This time-lapse video (= an accelerated video) of the birth of a storm is quite amazing… and this happened last Sunday in the state of Wyoming.

More explanations about supercells here :

Source : http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/05/19/wow-wyoming-surreal-supercell-thunderstorm-time-lapse-photos-and-video/

The best jobs in the world ?

Australia proposes each year “the best jobs in the world” to foreigners. It’s a global contest, and there are more than 330,000 applicants from 196 countries !

The six jobs are: Chief Funster in Sydney, New South Wales; Outback Adventurer in the Northern Territory; Park Ranger in Queensland; Wildlife Caretaker in South Australia; Lifestyle Photographer in Melbourne, Victoria; and Taste Master in Western Australia. During their six month working holiday in Australia the winners are paid 100 000 Australian $ and they have to communicate about their experience.

Here is the job ad :

And a successful application sent by a French young woman :

Source : http://www.bestjobs.australia.com

Fallen Superheroes

Eric Curtis is a photographer and he is famous for taking pictures of celebrities. He made a series two years ago of false superheroes, telling a story of its own.

Fallen Heroes

 

Check his website, or the Facebook page of this series.

Bag snaggers : what do they do ?

In New-York, there is a lot to do to keep the city clean… Bag snaggers are on a very specific mission : relieving the trees of their unwanted plastic leaves !

Watch this short video about their job :

Hero of the decade !

Found : the hero of the decade, maybe of the century : the super farmer !

🙂

A firefighter saves a kitten, becomes a celebrity… sort of.

Back in July, a firefighter named Cory Kalanick saved a kitten he found in a house during a mission. He had a camera on his helmet, so everything was recorded.

At first he uploaded his own edited version, which I can’t find on Youtube any longer.

Of course, there were news reports, like this one :

Or this one :

And then, in September, as everyone was back to work, GoPro, the brand of the camera decided to use the video as an advertising content. It worked, and within a month, there has been nearly 18 000 000 views of this video (which doesn’t mean that 18 000 000 people watched it).

Their version :