Tag Archives: chesley sully sullenberger

Book Review: Highest Duty – My Search for What Really Matters

HarperCollins, 2009.

Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters is the autobiography of the now-celebrity pilot who landed American Airlines Flight 1549 in the Hudson River on 15 January 2009.  Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger is both an Air Force Academy graduate and a former Air Force fighter pilot.

From the perspective of a pilot, Highest Duty is a fascinating read.  The book is well written, managing to string the 3 minute ordeal through 330 pages of Sullenberger’s life without becoming slow or overly tedious.  While his celebrity status was cemented by the ordeal, the book covers not only the emergency landing but also his life story.

One of the more intriguing parts of that “life story” has been the element of faith, but not for the reason most might expect.  Read more

Fighter Pilots, Helicopter Pilots and Attitudes toward War and Killing

In Blackhawk Down, the dramatized events of the 1993 assault on Mogadishu, US Army Blackhawk Super 61 is struck by an RPG and begins spinning to the surface.  As the alarms blare and the helicopter loses altitude, the pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Cliff Wolcott, calmly asks his co-pilot, CWO Donovan Briley, to silence the annoying caution lights:

“Hey, Bull, you want to pull those PCLs off-line or what?”

The pilot knew his capabilities; he knew the status of his aircraft.  He likely knew he was about to die; yet his voice was calm and procedural, betraying not a hint of emotion.

In perhaps the most widely watched example in recent history, American Airlines pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger calmly told the taken-aback Air Traffic Controllers

“we’re going to be in the Hudson.”

By all accounts, the crew was calm and methodical as it executed its emergency procedures, saving the lives of all on board.

How can pilots be so stoic during life-threatening catastrophes that might bring screams and panic from others?  Read more