'I saw him walking past with a smile on his face, but I thought it can't be him because nobody applauded or approached him!' said 26-year-old Rochelle in amazement.
She had just stepped off Tuesday's Virgin Atlantic flight from San Francisco to Heathrow - see previous blog - and discovered that her instincts had been right:
She had flown with Captain Chesley B. 'Sully' Sullenberger 111, one of America's newest popular heroes. Captain Sullenberger saved the lives of all his passengers and crew with a spectacular landing on the Hudson River in January following a bird strike that knocked out both engines.
'But with a face and a moustache like that it's impossible not to recognize, he's got a recognizable face,' said Rochelle.
She was kicking herself as we strolled down the walkway this morning after the ten-hour flight.
'If I'd been certain it was him, I would have loved to have introduced myself and shaken a hero's hand! How cool would that have been!'
A South African girl with a degree in films and communications from Los Angeles, she was on her way home.
'I want to be a documentary filmmaker reporting on stories in Africa - and finding out who the real heroes are in Africa,' she said, with determination and confidence.
Which is why she is doubly disappointed at yesterday's near-miss with heroism!
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