February 9, 2009
Flight 1549 Flight Crew is on the Early Show right now. I wonder how angry Matt Lauer still is. It's infantile. Besides, the crew was first unveiled at the Super Bowl so they got their scoop. Not Matt himself but NBC none-the-less. Anyway, the crew will be presented the keys to the city by Mayor Bloomberg. He had said immediately after the landing: "It would appear that the pilot did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river, and then making sure everybody got out."
Beyond masterful. Sullenberger said some interesting things to Katie Couric on 60 Minutes last night.
I was sure I could do it. I think, in many ways, as it turned out, my entire life up to that moment had been a preparation to handle that particular moment. I had this expectation that my career would be one in which I didn't crash an airplane.
In regards to the first responders and ferry captains:
Thank you seems totally inadequate. I have a debt of gratitude that I fear I may never be able to repay.
I think the fact that there was a good outcome and that they were instrumental to the success gave them and the entire city something to be proud of. Not only did Sullenberger avert disaster - he did it in the most dramatic way possible. Truly nowhere else on American could a rescue like that have taken place. They should be very proud of themselves - something positive after 9-11. And here was the bonus for them. A man whose brother had been murdered on 9-11 who told Sullenberger that he didn't think his family could have taken another loss.
SULLENBERGER: He showed me a picture of himself with his niece, and the niece was a child of his brother, who was killed in 9/11. And he told me, he didn't think that his family could take losing a second son.
UNNAMED PASSENGER (see video): My brother was a firefighter killed at the Trade Center. And the whole way down I'm thinking my family's not gonna survive this. I've gotta get off this airplane. I can't believe that everyone walked off that airplane. It's a miracle. And I really thank you.
As to being called a hero:
I don't feel comfortable embracing it, but I don't want to deny it. I don't want to diminish their thankful feeling toward me by telling them that they're wrong. I'm beginning to understand why they might feel that way. Something about this episode has captured people's imagination. I think they want good news. I think they want to feel hopeful again. And if I can help in that way, I will.
Something?
They will be on Larry King tonight.
UPDATED: Mayor Bloomberg handed out the keys to the city to each flight crew member calling them "five real American heroes". He introduced Sullenberger as "Captain Cool himself". He then presented him with a copy of a library book he had lost into the Hudson: "Just Culture: Balancing Safety and Accountability" and laughed, "No due date." What about the library?
BLOOMBERG: This was a day that could have been one of our most tragic, but instead was one of our most triumphant. It's been called a miracle, but in this case there is no miracle without the experience of these people.
SULLENBERGER: I want to correct the record right now. This was a crew effort. [He said the same on the Early Show.]
I have not flown as a pilot since the event. I have flown several times as a passenger. I have visited my colleagues in the cockpit in flight and after a brief few seconds of it being not as familiar as usual - it quickly felt right at home.
He described the landing, and the subsequent surge in media attention as a "life-changing event," and he says that he plans to use his position as a "temporary spokesman" for the aviation industry to represent those who work in the industry "as well as I can."
Captain Sully Sullenberger and Mayor Bloomberg
No comments:
Post a Comment