SULLY

Sullenberger manages to land the aircraft in the Hudson without any casualties.

Tom Hanks as Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and Aaron Eckhart as co-pilot Jeff Skiles.

SULLY

By Marlene Ardoin

January 2009 was a month of miracles. The first African American became a U.S. President, and on January 15^th, an American pilot, Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger saved 155 passengers by landing his plane on the New York Hudson River. 

The film, “Sully”, not only captures this event, but it plays homage to the experience of an older pilot, who used his years of training to its maximum advantage. His aircraft was disabled by striking a flock of Canada geese during its initial climb out of LaGuardia Airport of New York City.

We all have had experiences where we cannot believe that something is happening, then we are forced to let go and let intuition take over. The angel guides of Sully Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) and his crew landed what appeared to be an impossible plane landing. 

Happening just a few years after New York’s 9/11 event in 2001, the New York rescue teams were well prepared for such an event. 

This film also brings up the question of what other actions might have been taken. Of course, the event had to be investigated, even though all the passengers were saved.  Someone has to think about the damage to the plane.  Can one sue the Canadian geese?  How about the Canadian government as the responsible party?

Sully had no previous experience with water landings, but he was a glider pilot and a safety expert. In this film, he tells the investigators that he just eye-balled it.  Tom Hank’s Sully has a lot of personal dignity and charm in his communication style.

Here are a few interesting side facts.

His co-pilot, (Aaron Eckhart as Jeff Skiles) was a relative stranger. They had little experience flying together.  “At the time of the accident, Captain Sullenberger had logged a total of 19,663 flight hours, 4,765 of which were accumulated in A320 aircraft. He was also a safety expert and a glider pilot.

The first officer was Jeffrey B. Skiles, 49, who was on the last leg of his first assignment in the Airbus A320 since passing the training course to fly the type.  Skiles has accrued 15,643 flight hours throughout his career.

Sully’s own father, committed suicide in 1995, which is not brought up in the film.  “On December 7, 1995, Sullenberger’s father committed suicide by gunshot shortly after being released from the hospital for major surgery. He had been suffering from depression in the face of a long and difficult convalescence ahead of him.”  Among other things, Sully is a suicide prevention activist.

Sullenberger married fitness expert and television personality Lorraine “Lorrie” Sullenberger in 1989 (Laura Linney as Lorraine Sullenberger), with whom he has two daughters, Kate and Kelly. The Sullenbergers reside in the San Francisco Bay Area.

And director, Clint Eastwood, has made yet another provocative film featuring the resilience of Americans.

 

Chesley Sullenberger – From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesley_Sullenberger

Real events vs. Hollywood depiction:

http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/sully/

9/21/2016 # Sully