The question of whether Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger could have returned to LaGuardia or diverted to Teterboro after the bird strike in 2009 was a central point of the NTSB investigation. While early flight simulations suggested it was theoretically possible to reach a runway, these simulations were deemed unrealistic because they did not account for the "Human Factor"—the critical 20 to 30 seconds of shock, analysis, and decision-making that occurs in a real emergency. Once the NTSB included a 35-second delay to mirror human reaction time, almost every simulation resulted in a catastrophic crash short of the runway. In 2026, aviation historians and safety experts maintain that Sully's decision to ditch in the Hudson River was the only "high-probability" survival path. Any attempt to turn back toward a populated area without guaranteed engine power would have risked a much higher loss of life on the ground. The "Miracle on the Hudson" remains the definitive case study in "Aeronautical Decision Making," proving that a certain but unconventional landing is better than a risky conventional one.