America Can't Get Enough of Sully

It's been a year since Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger acted calm under pressure, relied on his training, showed leadership acting as a team with a very capable co-pilot, Jeffrey Skiles, and successfully put US Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River in New York after a bird strike during takeoff.  "Cactus" 1549, as the air traffic controllers called it, had 155 passengers on board and except for a few bumps and bruises - and quite a scare - were no worse for wear.

In this Associated Press photo, many of the members of that short flight gathered Friday to commemorate the event's anniversary.  And who (rightfully) was center to the proceedings?  Sully.

Captain Sullenberger has been on the speaking tour, he has written a book and others have written about the event, and has become something of an icon.

In these days of irresponsible Hollywood types that get press for extreme misbehaving (the topic of another RANT! some day), Sully is a breath of fresh air.  The right kind of media topic we can enjoy seeing plastered everywhere.


My favorite example of what has come out of this event is a computer reenactment of the flight, complete with bird strike and air traffic control audio.  Exoshpere3D is a "visualization" company that used the released information from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report.

I can't stop watching it. Take the time to allow it to load in HD and watch in full screen mode. If you are a pilot or have even a slight fascination with our our air traffic control system works, you may not be able to stop either.



 

Way to go, Sully!