Sulley

[contrail67]

I'm not trying to diminish the job that the crew did -- but the self-preservation instinct was certainly in play here. I'm guessing that they would not have wanted to hit buildings even if they knew they were empty. I'm also guessing that the touchdown would have been performed just as carefully if it were an empty ferry flight.

I have reassured passengers in the past by pointing out that -- although I have their safety in mind -- I will be joining them on the aircraft and, as such, will not be undertaking anything that I deem to be risky.

If this had been a freighter, would it have been as big a story? Absolutely not. Would the performance have been every bit as impressive - of course.

I'm rambling here but the point is that they did a great job, but self-preservation is not particularly "heroic". Consciously deciding to put yourself at risk for the sake of another is really what defines heroism.

PIPE

He handled the situation great...and yes there was some luck on his side.
Just read an article in our morning newspaper that basically said that his risk taking military background caused him to land the plane without anyone getting hurt. I actually laughed. As if he had not been in the military ....everyone would have been killed. I don't think so. Regardless, good job Sulley.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

I'm not trying to diminish the job that the crew did -- but the self-preservation instinct was certainly in play here. I'm guessing that they would not have wanted to hit buildings even if they knew they were empty. I'm also guessing that the touchdown would have been performed just as carefully if it were an empty ferry flight.

Agreed... meaning fate doesn't care if you are ferrying or have revenue. The reason this worked out well is because the two pilots were consummate professionals.

We've all heard pilots state "I don't think about flying when I am not at work..." However, I am willing to bet these guys did think about flying during their days off.

Liken it to doctors who read periodicals on the weekend and attend voluntary conferences on professional topics...

The point..? We all know of pilots who put as little into this job as possible. We know there are pilots who have different attitudes when ferrying aircraft as opposed to revenue... the public, whom professionals serve, had fate on their side with Sully/Skiles as the pilots...

If this had been a freighter, would it have been as big a story? Absolutely not. Would the performance have been every bit as impressive - of course.

I think that is because we value life over boxes.

I'm rambling here but the point is that they did a great job, but self-preservation is not particularly "heroic". Consciously deciding to put yourself at risk for the sake of another is really what defines heroism.

PIPE

Agreed... and Sully.. stated that his wife commented that a hero is someone who runs into a burning building to save another....

Sully has commented on his hero status that he doesn't embrace it, but he doesn't reject it because of the people that want to recognize him and share the emotion of success with him.




For us pilots, what is real for us is, here is an example of a REAL professional. The Old School image of a pilot. Sully gave to the profession..certainly more than he got in return.. He was modest about this accomplished feat, yet we all know not all of us could pull it off....

Sully is the pilot that does think about flying when he is away from home. He volunteered to his pilot groups safety committee. That made him and all of us better pilots.

There are many examples here to follow, for the public, the industry and within our profession.

One of the reasons Sully was successful is because as a professional he served the public, despite the company culture, compensation cuts and union strife.