Remember that well breaking live on CNN.

Can't ask for a better team than onboard that plane. Truly heroic.

Sadly though it was entirely preventable for the 100+ who died and many with long lasting injuries. NTSB said issues with United maintenance procedures at the SFO overhaul shop led to them not noticing the crack in the fan blade, even though the crack was visible via the dye used to check such issues. Basically, there was no redundancy and relied on a single inspector.

"The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the inadequate consideration given to human factors limitations in the inspection and quality control procedures used by United Airlines' engine overhaul facility which resulted in the failure to detect a fatigue crack originating from a previously undetected metallurgical defect located in a critical area of the stage 1 fan disk that was manufactured by General Electric Aircraft Engines."

http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR90-06.pdf