U.S. Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River. Photo/Courtesy Derek Rose
The Txchnologist, the GE-sponsored online magazine, recently spoke to Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who, along with co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles, brought U.S. Airways Flight 1549 down safely in the Hudson River after losing both engines on January 15, 2009. Sullenberger doesn’t like the “H” word, but he has made peace with his role as the public face of a remarkable event.
Now retired from commercial aviation, Sullenberger has written a book about the incident, Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters, and become a consultant to businesses and CBS News. Txchnologist talked to America’s favorite pilot about the “Miracle on the Hudson” coming to terms with the hero mantle and why pilots must remain a crucial part of flying even as technology takes on a larger role. (This interview was edited for length.)
Sullenberger is now retired from U.S. Airways.
Txchnologist: I feel like it would be illegal for me to not ask about the Miracle on the Hudson: Do you still relive that moment of the flight or have you moved on?
Capt. Sullenberger: No and then yes. I don’t relive it. I haven’t since a few months after it.
Certainly it was the ultimate challenge of a lifetime. It happened very suddenly after decades of routine flights. And it was traumatic. We all felt post-traumatic stress. My body physiologically responded intensely at the time but I had the discipline and focus to compartmentalize it and act in spite of it.
After a few months, you know, people are resilient. It also helped that I was a mature adult when this happened, so I had a lot of life experience to help me put this in perspective. I think moving on is not the right word for me because this is such a big story and I have become the public face of this event for many people. So we haven’t moved on but we’ve gotten over the trauma of that event certainly.
Txch: Are you comfortable with the idea of your heroism, with this mantle that’s been placed on you?
CS: That’s certainly something I had to struggle with early on, the “H” word. For us it didn’t quite cross the threshold – it wasn’t something I chose to do, this was thrust upon us. But then we did our jobs exceptionally well under a difficult circumstance. So what I chose to do was kind of an intellectual compromise to be true to myself. I certainly did not want to deny people the gift of their thanks to me. At the same time I wasn’t willing to take on that mantle as my own.
I don’t think of myself as a hero. I think of myself as a pilot who’s become famous because of this remarkable event.
Txch: You’re a consultant on risk assessment now. What kinds of problems do you help your clients with?
CS: I was one of those pilots who was always trying to improve and have a deeper understanding, especially about human performance in complicated systems. That has been a great skill that applies in lots of industries and domains: all the way from patient safety in medicine to oil and gas exploration and everything in between.
To read the rest of this remarkable conversation, check out The Txchnologist.
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