[Closed] Sully, Miracle on the Hudson

Go on samunkin - enlighten me?

Cobrakai - I get callsigns wrong all the time, as we have so many, and some just don't stick in your brain. Whilst trying to diagnose a double non-responsive engines, run checklists, fly the aircraft, talk to ATC, talk to the pax, talk to the crew, and save the lives of 200 people by a non-standard flap selection to balloon the jet over the boundary fence - then crash landing short of the runway, im hardly surprised he got a call sign wrong. Oh and he'd been at work 13 hrs flying from the Far East, a notoriously sleep disrupted working pattern.

I would Far rather lose both engines in sullys position than Petes at LHR. Sully had height and speed to play with, as opposed to neither.

Sorry Dan, in no was I implying by using another call sign he'd done something wrong. It fascinated me when I found out why he'd used that particular call sign. It was an indicator to me that the emergency training was so ingrained that it came out during the incident which is a good thing.

I get callsigns wrong all the time. It gets embarrassing when you keep calling easyjet, Ryanairs or vice versa. 😳

FWIW both Mrs C and I really enjoyed the film. I thought it was very well done and didn't have quite the full on American shtick that sometimes accompanies a Client Eastwood film. I wasn't aware that the NTSB stuff was completely fictional as per the film although listening to Tom Hanks interviews it would appear that a lot of the investigation work and reviews he had to go through took a lot longer than appears the case in the film. Sully had that hanging over him for close on a year, I believe, although as was mentioned earlier it wasn't as hostile as depicted in the film. Hero is a strong word to use but I can see why passengers or close friends / relations of those on that flight would see him as a hero. It's an easy way to ascribe recognition and gratitude to someone who managed to keep calm and avert a disaster in challenging circumstances and in so doing probably saved the lives of 153 passengers. Sure, he was doing his job. But, it could so easily have not panned out. Based on the film, I have a deep respect for him and what he did.

Sully is one lucky pilot

Could you explain what is lucky about losing both engines whilst taking off from a very large city?

Lucky, in that he had a nice big piece of water there, no ships in the way, no swell, favourable wind. If you are going to lose 2 engines after takeoff, that's not a bad set of cards to be played.

Please note, I have never criticised Sullys actions, just tried to add perspective.

Cobrakai - no problem, as above just trying to add some perspective to those outside the industry.

Watched it last week brilliant film. Clint Eastwood certainly is a talented man and one of Hollywood's legends.

Lucky, in that he had a nice big piece of water there, no ships in the way, no swell, favourable wind. If you are going to lose 2 engines after takeoff, that's not a bad set of cards to be played.

How many airline pilots experience losing both engines after takeoff?

Once upon a time many commercial jet aeroplanes had four engines, then the bean counters realised that two big engines were more economical.

Very few, but you seem to be missing the point.

If you have a catastrophic failure, the outcome is predicated on situational luck, far more than exceptional skill.

Watched it last week brilliant film. Clint Eastwood certainly is a talented man and one of Hollywood's legends

Even more incredible given his age.

Yup.

No doubting Sully's skills. I would much prefer to have someone like him at the helm than a typical Easyjet or Ryanair pilot with minimal hours before getting in the seat and no experience of unproceduralised flying

That's uninformed and frankly offensive. I acquired thousands of hours on the Airbus at EasyJet and would jump on any of their aircraft as a passenger without the slightest qualm.

Anyone else giggle when the air traffic control guy was told that 'all the passengers got pulled off'?

No? Just me then. As you were.

You do know they aren't actually flying a real plane in a real crisis? Like actors...

Flaperon, Don't mean to offend and not insinuating that pilots are unsafe, but was referring to the fact that you can get in the co-pilot seat these days with what many would consider a low amount of hours, whereas pilots of Capt. Sully's generation tended to come from the military with more experience by the time they sat in the cockpit of a commercial airliner. That specific experience and the nature of the military flying is bound to come through in an unusual situation such as the Hudson River. I'm sure given the safety culture of the industry that pilots are now facing similar scenario's in the simulators as part of routine training, practicing skills you will never need.

It's like anything, individuals have different experiences. I'm reminded of an Air Transat Incident where a maintenance error caused a massive fuel leak in the middle of the Atlantic and the aircraft ran out of fuel and glided from cruise altitude, and amazingly the pilot managed to glide it down to a relatively safe (albeit scary) landing. There were two huge pieces of luck that day: one that the Ascension Islands were conveniently placed within gliding range (which is limited for a commercial airliner as you'd imagine), and the other was that the pilot happened to be a crack glider pilot too. If any of those two pieces of luck had not been present I shudder to think of what the alternative outcome would have been. The same scenario was tried in the simulator with other pilots and not all managed to bring the aircraft in safely.

Go on - not being a pilot myself i'll happily bow to your experience and knowledge. I also will and do happily get on and take my family on any Easyjet flight. Safety concerns never cross my mind. You're far safer on the plane than the journey to and from the airport.

Wobbliscott - I think you may believe too much of what you read in the papers. I was going to jump to the defence of Easy/Ryan pilots, but had to go to work ( just landed back from Sao Paolo).

Anybody who thinks their pilots are any better than another company's is far wide of the mark. Once again it's luck - who happens to be hiring when you need a job.

The AirTransaat example you linked to - I mentioned it on P1. He would be a legend, but for the fact he ran out of fuel because he refused to believe there was a leak & blamed "The Computer". Maybe as a champion glider pilot he wasn't aware of aircraft with engines and a 200hr cadet pilot would have been far safer!! Best to never need to exhibit your immense skill!!

Terrific piece of film making. They did well with stretching the timeline. Nicely understated Hanks performance.

I thought the water and rescue scenes were particularly authentic.

Only the final showdown felt a bit pantomine and simplistic to sign the film off but forgivable. One of my films of the year and it's a been a great year.

Nicely understated Hanks performance.

😀 8)