As for whether it was the pilot or the aircraft -- why yes, it was.
The thing I'm trying to get at is answering the question, What percent of current airline pilot crews could have done the same thing? It's no disrespect to the pilot to say that this was a routine manuever made easier by sophisticated electronics - if that is the case. Further, if that IS the case, then it becomes an important survival tool to know which airplanes have the necessary equipment and which don't.
Most, I daresay all, crews could glide an aircraft to someplace and probably make a soft touchdown. No power glide is part of pilot training starting really early.
The cool judgement involved here was making the hard call of realizing that no airport is within gliding range and that the river is the best option for a controlled touchdown and making it happen in a timely fashion. The time it takes to work thru denial could close the door on lots of options.
But still I'd rather have a guy up front who has seen so many things that during recurrent training he asks the simulator operators for entertaining scenarios just to learn new things. I don't know that this pilot did this but I suspect it.
It's also a good sign that the flight software didn't prevent this good outcome. Flight software on Airbus has matured since that airshow disaster early on.
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