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Perhaps because the nation saw in this disaster something more than a mechanical failure. Perhaps because people saw in it no failure at all, but rather something successful about themselves. Here, after all, were two forms of nature in collision, the elements and human character. Last Wednesday, the elements, indifferent as ever, brought down Flight 90. And on that same afternoon, human nature—groping and struggling—rose to the occasion.
也許是因為人們不僅僅把這次災難看成是一次機械故障。也許因為在這次空難中人們根本沒有看到任何失敗，而是看到了自身品質的某種勝利。畢竟，這是兩種自然力量——惡劣的天氣與人的品德之間的碰撞。上周三，惡劣的天氣與往常一樣無情，將90號航班硬生生地從天空中拽到了水中。而還是在同一個下午，人性的力量在摸索、抗爭中挺身而出，對抗災難。
Of the four acknowledged heroes of the event, three are able to account for their behavior. Donald Usher and Eugene Windsor, a park police helicopter team, risked their lives every time they dipped their skids into the water to pick up survivors. On television, side by side, they described their courage as all in the line of duty. Lenny Skutnik, a 28-year-old employee of the Congressional Budget Office, said: "It's something I never thought I would do"—referring to his jumping into the water to drag an injured woman to shore. Skutnik added that "somebody had to go in the water," delivering every hero's line that is no less admirable for being repeated. In fact, nobody had to go into the water. That somebody actually did so is part of the reason this particular tragedy sticks in the mind.
此事件的四位公認的英雄中，有三位能夠活下來向人們講述他們救人的舉動。唐納德·厄舍和尤金·溫莎是公園巡警直升機的機組人員，他們數次冒著生命危險將起落架放入水中打撈起幸存者。電視上，他們并排而坐，說他們的勇敢舉動完全是職責所在。28歲的倫尼·斯庫特尼克是國會預算辦公室的一名雇員，談到他跳入水中將一個受傷的婦女拖上岸時，他說：“我沒想到我會那樣做。”斯庫特尼克還說：“總得有人跳到水中去救人。”這是每個英雄都會說的話，但此話無論重復多少遍，人們也絲毫不減敬佩之情。實際上，沒有人必須跳入水中。而有人這樣做了，這正是人們久久不能忘懷這次災難的原因之一。
