Using tracking data from Flightaware.com and Google Maps, a Flickr user has plotted the exact course of the USAir flight that landed in the Hudson today.  (Click here or on the map for full size.)

This isn’t a commercial pilot. This isn’t just a regular hero. This is John McClane at the end of a Die Hard movie, pulling off a ludicrous, insanely impossible move that people in the real world wouldn’t even dream up, much less accomplish.

The audience in a test screening would never believe it.  They’d be looking for the CGI work and knowingly listening for the Wilhelm Screams in the soundtrack.

Wow.  Hats off. Unreal.

If the pilot is being interviewed, and Alan Rickman suddenly shows up trying to take one last shot before he finally dies… don’t say I didn’t warn you.

PS — I was on an Avianca plane once that had serious mechanical problems shortly after takeoff from Bogotá.  (I never found out what they were.) The pilot banked that 737 around like it was a sprint car on a dirt track and got us back down in what was probably thirty minutes but felt like thirty years.

Not saying I know what it was like for these folks. But I do know that I have been (a) in some awe of pilots in general, and (b) a bit more white-knuckled about flying ever since.

We had to spend the night in Bogotá, so the airline gave everybody free round-trip tickets anywhere they fly, good for a year.  I know their safety record is actually pretty good, I actually loved Colombia and every place I visited in South America, and the free ticket could have gotten me all the way to Buenos Aires again. But somehow… I just never quite got around to using it.

• El Pantera, the Mexican TV series I consulted on last spring, is airing in repeats now on Galavision, every Wednesday at 8e/7c.  As I’ve said before, it’s total eye candy — bullets are fired, tight clothing is worn.  I love it dearly.  You barely even need to be able to speak Spanish for large stretches.  Whee!

• Mexico City was one of the most fascinating places I’ve ever spent time.  You need to watch you step a bit, but it’s worth it.  If you get the chance, go.  And if you’d like an introduction to the city, David Lida’s First Stop in the New World is superlative.  It’s also a great gift for anyone you know with wanderlust.

• But do watch your step south of the border.  In Saltillo, one of the world’s leading experts on not getting kidnapped, who was in town to teach people how not to get kidnapped… just got kidnapped.

• That noted, keep in mind that 99.99% of people in Mexico are quite noticeably not being kidnapped.  Really.  Walk around.  It’s true.  You can easily go and have a wonderful time.  Just don’t do anything too over the top — like, apparently, teach people how not to get kidnapped — and you’ll probably be fine.

• And going offers you a chance to enjoy some truly beautiful and fascinating culture — speaking of which, my buddy Alfredo Juan Felix-Diaz Gonzalez (or “Freddy,” which is a lot easier), one of the writers I worked with at Televisa, was one of three Mexicans who just swept los Premios Adonáis, a major poetry award in Spain.

Entonces, ¡felicidades a Freddy!  Mi español no es tan excelente que entiendo todos los matices, pero es un obra hermoso, y estoy orgulloso de te llamar mi amigo.

The Washington Post says a bipartisan Senate investigation has concluded that blame for the abuse of prisoners at Gitmo and Abu Ghraib — described by the Red Cross and the Pentagon itself as serious violations of U.S. and international law — belongs at the very top:

Um… that’s kinda big news. Or is it?

The report and the WP story have been out for more than five hours now.

However, as of 2:52 PST on 11 Dec. 2008, let’s see how CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC think:

It’s nowhere to be found on CNN’s front page.

Although they’ve somehow found room for “Child’s Skull Found,” “Navy Mom surprises son, 8, in class,” and “Pretty robot slaps men who get fresh.”

No surprise, the Fox News front page is also not carrying the story.

Although they have room for “KFC Workers in Hot Water After Sink Baths,” “Outrage After Teacher Tells 7-Year-Olds Santa Is Fake,” and “Ga. School Staff Accused of Inflatable Mattress Sex.”

To its credit, however, MSNBC, generally considered the most liberal of the three major 24-hour cable news nets, has indeed placed the story on the front page.

In a single-line, fine-print text link.

Just beneath “Bowel-clearing drugs to get sternest FDA label” and “Child’s body found near missing girl’s home.”

In the same vital column with “Vegas still offers fun for the budget conscious” and “Aniston on Jolie: ‘No daggers through the heart.'”

So you can’t say the media is ignoring the story completely.

The Washington Post says a bipartisan Senate investigation has concluded that blame for the abuse of prisoners at Gitmo and Abu Ghraib — described by the Red Cross and the Pentagon itself as serious violations of U.S. and international law — belongs at the very top:

Um… that’s kinda big news. Or is it?

The report and the WP story have been out for more than five hours now.

However, as of 2:52 PST on 11 Dec. 2008, let’s see how CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC think:

It’s nowhere to be found on CNN’s front page.

Although they’ve somehow found room for “Child’s Skull Found,” “Navy Mom surprises son, 8, in class,” and “Pretty robot slaps men who get fresh.”

No surprise, the Fox News front page is also not carrying the story.

Although they have room for “KFC Workers in Hot Water After Sink Baths,” “Outrage After Teacher Tells 7-Year-Olds Santa Is Fake,” and “Ga. School Staff Accused of Inflatable Mattress Sex.”

To its credit, however, MSNBC, generally considered the most liberal of the three major 24-hour cable news nets, has indeed placed the story on the front page.

In a single-line, fine-print text link.

Just beneath “Bowel-clearing drugs to get sternest FDA label” and “Child’s body found near missing girl’s home.”

In the same vital column with “Vegas still offers fun for the budget conscious” and “Aniston on Jolie: ‘No daggers through the heart.'”

So you can’t say the media is ignoring the story completely.

British road crews apparently dig really deep.

Shortly after passing this sign, the driver in front of me pulled over and spent more time with his kids.