When pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger lands his damaged plane on the Hudson River in order to save the flight's passengers and crew, some consider him a hero while others think he was reckless.
On January 15, 2009, flight 1549 left New York City, but shortly after taking off there's an accident that wrecks the plane's engines. They were told to return to the airport, but pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger decides that the plane won't make it to the airport, so he chooses to land in the Hudson River. And even when none of the passengers were seriously injured, Sully finds himself under intense scrutiny by the National Transportation Safety Board (N.T.S.B.), whose investigation reveals that the plane could have made it to the airport and one of the engines was still working. Sully still maintains the engines were out and if they tried to go to the airport, they would have crashed.—[email protected]
On January 15, 2009, after a bird strike with the loss of two turbines, pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and co-pilot Jeff Skiles land an Airbus A320 with one hundred fifty-five passengers on the Hudson River saving their lives. Sully is claimed a hero by the press and public. However, the official investigation reports that the left engine was running at idle and not damaged, and the flight simulator indicates that it would have been possible to land at LaGuardia or Teterboro. Sully has to defend himself to the commission; otherwise he has to defend his reputation and career showing new evidence of the incident. Will he succeed?—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The Miracle on the Hudson, that is pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger landing his damaged jet plane on the Hudson River and saving all one hundred fifty-five people on-board from a horrible fate, is seen as an incredible act of heroism from the dedicated pilot. However, the National Transportation Safety Board seeks to ruin Sully's career by claiming the fact that his jet plane still had enough altitude and thrust to return to a safe airport in New York City. Will Sully be adored as a hero or a fraud?—Eric
On January 15, 2009, the fateful U.S. Airways Flight 1549 suffered catastrophic damage shortly after take-off, losing both engines. Only three minutes into the flight, and at an approximate altitude of eight hundred fifty-three metres, the experienced pilot, Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, and co-pilot, Jeff Skiles, had to make a split-second decision: should they try to land the crippled Airbus A320 on the LaGuardia Airport or Teterboro? Instead, they attempted an emergency landing on the freezing waters of the Hudson River, saving the lives of all one hundred fifty-five passengers and crew. However, even though Sully was hailed a hero, the National Transportation Safety Board thought otherwise, as sophisticated computer simulations suggested that Sully could have landed the plane elsewhere. Was Sully, indeed, a hero, or a scapegoat?—Nick Riganas
On the afternoon of January 15, 2009, Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) and First Officer Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) board US Airways Flight 1549 from LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Three minutes into the flight, at an approximate altitude of 2,800 ft (850 m), the Airbus A320 strikes a flock of birds, damaging both engines. Without much time to think, they judge themselves unable to reach nearby airports (Teterboro Airport being the closest), and Sully ditches the aircraft on the Hudson River.
Sully is a decorated captain with many years of unblemished service with US airways.Though with mild injuries, the crew and passengers evacuate without any fatalities. Sully is hailed a hero, but the incident leaves him traumatized. He tries coping by drinking alcohol but finds himself unable to escape the attention from the press, that is not only targeting him, but also his family (wife Lorraine Sullenberger (Laura Linney)).
Still in New York City for investigation reasons, Sully learns that preliminary data from ACARS suggest that the left engine was still running at idle power. Charles Porter (Mike O'Malley) is leading the investigation and is assisted by Dr. Elizabeth Davis (Anna Gunn) + Ben Edwards (Jamey Sheridan). Sully says that this wasn't a crash, but a forced water landing. He says he asked for a return to LaGuardia, but from his decades of experience, he knew there wasn't enough speed or altitude and so decided to take the plane into the Hudson. He eyeballed it and bet his life and the life of all passengers on that decision.
Theoretically, the plane still had enough power to land the plane at either LaGuardia or Teterboro. Furthermore, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) claims that several confidential computerized simulations show similar results.Sully and Jeff firmly insist otherwise, and this opposition gradually intensifies the relationship of both parties. Mike Cleary (Holt McCallany) is the pilots Union head representing Sully and Skiles. Larry Rooney (Chris Bauer) works for Mike and is friends with Sully. Sully delivered a million passengers over 40 years and in the end, he will be judged over 208 seconds.
Skiles insists that the only reason everyone is alive is that Sully switched on the Auxiliary Power Unit (which is 15th on the list of Airbus to Do's) and decided to land on the Hudson. Sully insists that the left engine was destroyed and had no power. But Sully is puzzled as to how the computer sims showed a successful landing both at LaGuardia and Teterboro airports.
The NTSB starts to believe it may be a case of a pilot error, which would end Sully's career. He arranges to have the simulations rerun with live pilots, then relayed to the public. They result in successful landings.Sully recounts his recollection of the fateful flight. Sheila Dail (Jane Gabbert), Doreen Welsh (Molly Hagan) & Donna Dent (Ann Cusack) are the stewardess. It was a normal, bitterly cold day. Bird strike knocks out both engines and attempts to restart fail. Sully turns on the APU. Patrick Harten (Patch Darragh) is the ATC who gives options to land on priority at both the airports. Patrick puts a hold on all departures and arrivals to clear the air for Cactus 1549. Sully decides to go for the Hudson and issues his command "Brace for impact". Patrick loses radar contact and is taken to an isolation room, pending further investigation, as per protocol.
Sully lands on the water and orders the plane evacuated. Emergency services respond and 7 ferries (Thomas Jefferson, Intrepid & Yogi Barra) reach the spot within 24 mins (1200 rescue workers were involved). Aft exits are flooded, so everyone uses the wing exits and the forward ones. Iconic pic of all passengers on the wings and the forward rafts. Sully checks the plane again before boarding off at the last.Sully gets on a ferry and the first call he makes is to his wife. He reaches the pier and needs to know how many survived. there were 155 passengers and crew on-board. Patrick is relieved to hear that Sully landed on the Hudson safely. Sully is emotional when told that each passenger survived.
Sully debates that the computer simulations are unrealistic (he makes several phone calls to ensure that the sims are discussed in a public hearing) because the pilots knew in advance of the situation that they would face and of the suggested emergency action, and were able to practice the scenario several times (They practiced 17 times before they got the successful landing results). The NTSB agrees with his criticism, and simulations are thus rerun, this time allowing a 35-second pause before the plane is diverted.
The LaGuardia rerun ends with the plane landing short of the runway, and that to Teterboro with a crash into buildings before the airport. The NTSB announces that analysis of the port engine, now recovered from the river, confirms by Sully's account that it was indeed damaged by the flock of birds in the way, and they conclude that Sully acted correctly in the event of Flight 1549.
Sully further credits everyone aboard and the rescue team for the success.
