captain sullenberger is also the former u.s. ambassador to the international civil aviation organization. ambassador sullenberger, great to see you. what's your view of what happened in toronto? how does a plane end up upside down? >> john, it's good to be with you. and thank you for mentioning the 1549 flight. of course, i was only half of it. captain jeff skiles was the other half. i'm very glad that the families of those involved got good news and that everyone survived. and that's a real testament to all the hard work that's been done up until now. my takeaway from this is that these recent crashes and incidents are a reminder that in spite of how safe aviation has become, there's still a lot of work to be done and investments to be made. >> how so? you say the system is taxed. explain. >> well, we're understaffed, particularly in air traffic control and maintenance on the navigation facilities that we use in this country. we still need to make investments to make sure that aviation can be kept as safe as it is. and to meet,

. >> captain sully sullenberger became a national hero when he landed u.s.hudson river after a bird strike in 2009 saving everyone on board. she spoke thursday morning and reiterated that flying is the safest way to travel. >> every time you are on a plane there are thousands of people doing important things that in many ways keep us safe. >> reporter: adding complacency isn't an option. >> a lot of people have worked very hard over this last 20 years to always learn from aviation accidents and incidents and continually make things better. we have an obligation to do that. it's this constant learning, constant improvement,never saying it is good enough. >> there are challenges seen in the string of near misses last year in los angeles. >> stop, stop, stop. >> austin texas and syracuse new york plus a nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers, faa reporting last year it needed 3,000 more. >> lives are at stake. it can be stressful and nerve racking. that has to be mitigated with more rest, better pay, short ss of duties. >> reporter: as investigators wor

. >> given the lack of altitude at the time of the strike, captain sully sullenberger had to make a decisionland the airbus a320 in the hudson river, or risk crashing on the way back to the airport. >> it's the unforgettable image. >> with the even more unforgettable ending. >> he made the right choice. >> we've had a miracle on 34th street, i believe. now we've had a miracle in. >> the hudson. >> the challenges are innumerable and aviation is incredibly dynamic and flying. the conditions are changing all the time. >> icing is one of the most insidious dangers to commercial aircraft. >> in certain weather conditions, ice can build up on the wings of an aircraft. >> the last fatal accident in washington, dc, was the air florida crash in 1982. the deicing procedure occurred at the gate. the aircraft had to wait in line for quite some time to take off, and in the process of waiting in line, ice built up on the aircraft. once again it took off with ice on its wings and could not get airborne and crashed into the river. after clipping the 14th street bridge. aircraft already. >> have to be able t

the other one was the sully sullenberger. when he landed his plane onto the hudson river control landing in the water. and the third one was a helicopter tourist helicopter that had taken off over the hudson river. and an aircraft came from teterboro airport, and they crashed into each other. and immediately, what you first thing that we typically do is try to see if this is terrorist related. and then, of course, the local law enforcement will be cordoned off the scene and trying to make things safe. but investigating this type of accident, once you've identified it, the ntsb will come there. and in this case, they're very they were they're they're very close by. yeah. same thing in dc. so when you're in other areas, it takes a lot longer for that investigation to start. but they're very methodical in the way that they investigate these things. >> they are indeed. and thank goodness for their investigations. and thank goodness for you, jonathan gilliam, great to have you with us, as always. and i'm i'm sorry we are doing thi

the other one was the sully sullenberger. when he landed his plane onto the hudson river control landing in the water. and the third one was a helicopter tourist helicopter that had taken off over the hudson river. and an aircraft came from teterboro airport, and they crashed into each other. and immediately, what you first thing that we typically do is try to see if this is terrorist related. and then, of course, the local law enforcement will be cordoned off the scene and trying to make things safe. but investigating this type of accident, once you've identified it, the ntsb will come there. and in this case, they're very they were they're they're very close by. yeah. same thing in dc. so when you're in other areas, it takes a lot longer for that investigation to start. but they're very methodical in the way that they investigate these things. >> they are indeed. and thank goodness for their investigations. and thank goodness for you, jonathan gilliam, great to have you with us, as always. and i'm i'm sorry we are doing thi