( CNN ) -- Lessons learned from previous successful airliner ditchings helped pilot C.B . `` Sully '' Sullenberger save 155 lives when he put his US Airways A320 jetliner down in the Hudson River , a fellow pilot told CNN . An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 is seen just before it crashes into the sea off the Comoro Islands in 1996 . Twenty-three people died when an Overseas National Airways DC-9 ditched off the Caribbean island of St. Croix in 1970 , and 123 were killed in the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 off the Comoro Islands near Africa in 1996 . But Emilio Corsetti , an Airbus 320 pilot and aviation author , said those ditchings were actually successful `` because people were able to get out '' -- 40 in the 1970 crash and 52 in the 1996 incident . More may have survived if those planes were equipped like the Airbus 320 and if passengers followed standard evacuation procedures , Corsetti told CNN . Watch how to survive a plane crash » . In fact , Corsetti said , the 1970 crash helped lead to a redesign of seat belts . The belts aboard the DC-9 were `` metal-to-fabric , '' Corsetti said , depending upon tension to keep passengers strapped in their seats . `` Those things gave out ... People were thrown out of their seats 10 rows up , '' said Corsetti , who has written a book , `` 35 Miles from Shore , '' about the 1970 crash . On the Hudson River on Thursday , the impact was like `` being inside a car that crashes , '' passenger Alberto Panero said . Corsetti also said that the DC-9 did n't have life raft capacity for all those aboard . Unlike the A320 's escape slides , which helped dozens of passengers get out , the DC-9s rafts could hold only three or four . In the 1996 crash , the Ethiopian Airlines 767 was attempting a water landing off the Grand Comoro Island during a hijacking . The plane had run out of fuel . While it is uncertain whether there was a struggle in the cockpit , video shows the 767 nearing the ocean 's surface . As it does , the plane 's left engine hits a reef , Corsetti said , sending it into a cartwheel . He said the majority of the 123 who died drowned . They had put on life vests and inflated them before they could get out of the splintered fuselage , he said , and were trapped against the bulkheads as water filled the wreckage . Sullenberger had other advantages , too , Corsetti said . Putting the jetliner down into the placid Hudson River probably helped him keep the plane level . The DC-9 pilot faced 8- to 15-foot seas in the 1970 ditching and the Ethiopian jet was dealing with offshore waves . Watch a pilot describe how plane went down » . The A320 also is equipped with a ditching button , Corsetti said , which closes all valves below the waterline , enabling it to float more easily . No matter the lessons learned from the earlier crashes , US Airways passengers were happy Sullenberger was in the cockpit Thursday . `` He 's the man ! He 's absolutely the man ! '' passenger Vince Spera said . `` If you want to talk to a hero , get a hold of him because that is the hero in this whole deal . '' CNN 's Wayne Drash contributed to this report .
Lessons from 1970 DC-9 ditching into Caribbean , 1996 crash off Comoro Islands . DC-9 seat belt failure lead to new design ; jet did n't have enough life rafts . Passengers in 1996 crash inflated vests before getting out , were trapped . A320s have a `` ditching button '' to close valves , allowing jet to float longer .