Sully

Just got back from a prescreening of the movie Sully – based on the real-life account of the landing of an A320 airplane in the Hudson River in New York. What an incredibly moving and captivating story. At times it felt like you were really in the cockpit with the pilots. Picturing myself in his shoes one day sent shivers up my spine.

A few thoughts crossed my mind driving home…

1. You never once heard an ounce of panic in either the pilots voices or the air traffic controllers, all professionals right to the end.
2. The crew resource management used between the two pilots throughout the emergency was phenomenal, total team work.
3. The life of a pilot can be a very lonely life but a loving family back home and the interdependence on your crew make the difference.

Arriving back home, I dropped my old instructor buddy Clay a txt and mentioned that I had just seen the movie and that I was remembering the engine failure flight that he and I had while I was doing my instrument training. Clay and I bantered around memories for a while and relived good times and I wished him well for his next flights with a plane full of passengers.

I can only hope and pray that should I ever be in an emergency situation with lives on the line that I’ll be up to the task myself.