Sullenberger to speak at Wings Over the Rockies fundraiser
A decade after he and his crew saved everyone on US Airways Flight 1549 in the “Miracle on the Hudson,” Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger continues to speak publicly about his lifelong passion for aviation and his concerns and hopes for the industry.
As U.S. politics have become more polarized, Sullenberger is also using his fame and credibility to talk about the need to sustain democracy and restore civility to public life. He will speak about the challenges and opportunities facing the aviation industry Dec. 5 at the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum annual dinner and fundraiser.
The museum will honor Sullenberger during the “Spreading Wings Gala.”
Sullenberger was catapulted to international fame after guiding a badly damaged Airbus A320 to a safe landing on the Hudson River in New York City on a bitterly cold day Jan. 15, 2009. The plane’s two engines lost thrust after hitting a flock of Canada geese. Photos seen around the world showed passengers waiting outside on the wings of the plane floating on the Hudson. First responders made their way to the plane in boats, rescuing all 155 people on the flight.
It quickly became apparent to Sullenberger, the captain, and Jeff Skiles, the co-pilot, that their emergency landing “wasn’t going to just fade away with the end of the news cycle like most things do.”
“We knew it was going to be a life-changing event for everybody on the airplane and their families,” Sullenberger said. “It was one of those events that divides one’s life into before and after.”
The “after” for Sullenberger, a veteran commercial pilot and former Air Force fighter pilot, has included publicly speaking and testifying before Congress about aviation safety, advocating for patient safety, talking about leadership, writing two books and serving as the inspiration for the 2016 movie “Sully” directed by Clint Eastwood. The movie depicted the landing on the Hudson and its aftermath.
His many honors and awards include the French Legion of Honour, the Distinguished Crew Safety Award from the Air Line Pilots Association, the Harvard Foundation’s Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award and being named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most Chesley
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Sullenberger, who retired as a commercial pilot in 2010, said he realized that the attention and acclaim would give him and Skiles a bully pulpit to talk about the things they cared about throughout their professional lives.
“We had an obligation. We owed it to everyone, all our colleagues still working in these professions, still facing these challenges, to speak for them because we had a greater voice than they did,” Sullenberger said. “We knew we had an obligation to use this event for good in every way we could for as long as we could. That’s an obligation we still feel.”
Aviation safety and how technology and humans work together are important concerns, Sullenberger said.
“Fundamentally, I want us not to take our eye off the ball. In spite of how routine, commonplace and ultra-safe air travel has become, certainly in the advanced world, we can’t rest on our laurels, we can’t become complacent,” Sullenberger said.
The focus should be anticipating problems, not reacting after an accident, he added.
“I’m also reminding everyone that as we use more technology in our cockpits and in all parts of our lives, we need to do a much better job of accounting for human factors, in other words, the human-machine interface,” Sullenberger said.
Systems, equipment and training should be designed to capitalize on the strengths of each component — human and technologicial — and account for the weaknesses of each, he added. He said humans are poor monitors and are much better “doers,” but technology is being used to do more of the actual manipulation of the controls, which are still under human direction.
“What we should be doing is giving the humans more direct engagement and having the technology monitor us, essentially provide protections for us to prevent exceedances,” Sullenberger said.
For now, technology can do what can be foreseen, but it isn’t as good with situations that haven’t been anticipated, Sullenberger said. Like quickly deciding to land a badly crippled commercial jet liner on a river and successfully handling a series of procedures that weren’t part of any training.
Besides advocating for aviation safety and for the people who work in the industry, Sullenberger has added defense of democracy to his agenda. In a guest column in The Washington Post before the 2018 midterm elections, he urged people to support candidates who wanted to unite, not divide, the country. He criticized those in power who promote extremism.
“I’m as concerned about the state of this country as I’ve been in over half a century. And that concern is growing almost by the day,” Sullenberger said. “There are still too many who are acting in a tribal way and not as, in my view, in what our role as a citizen should be.”
Americans need to remain engaged in the democratic system and get their information from credible, reputable sources, “not internet rumors,” he added.
“We are the ones who have the power at the ballot box, to vote out those who do not uphold their oaths of office and who are not acting in the interests of the American people and the cause of democracy,” Sullenberger said.
He said he’s looking forward to celebrating the work Wings Over the Rockies does to preserve the history of aviation and promote its future. Sullenberger has strong ties to Colorado.
He and his family often vacationed in the Colorado Springs area to escape the hot, humid summers of north Texas. Later, he attended the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he was classmates with retired Maj. Gen. John Barry, CEO and president of Wings Over the Rockies.
“I want to remind people, especially now with people of my age retiring from this profession, there’s great need and therefore great opportunity for people in every aspect of aviation,” Sullenberger said. “And that in aviation, they can have real adventures and real life, not just virtual ones.”
Tickets for “Spreading Wings Gala” are on sale through Saturday.