Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenburger , the pilot who landed a US Airways plane on the Hudson River, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the new Yankee Stadium.
Last month, it was announced that he was writing two books, one on his life up until the events of flight 1549, in a deal worth $3.2 million. TLC has interviewed him for a one-hour documentary titled “Brace For Impact.”
The flight has become an iPhone app, where you can fly the plane yourself, following hoops plotted in the sky showing Captain Sullenberger’s approximate actual flight-path, and the audio is the actual air-traffic control recording between the crew and ground control.
Early on, we pointed out our theory that the sensationalistic nature of airline disasters had made us decide to moderate our coverage of them. But, that is not what we want to contemplate here. It is a thought we’ve had before, and want to emphasize.
Too often, people fail to appreciate the role the crew of a plane plays in our lives. We report on flight attendants and pilots doing things we find inexplicable, that seem from the accounts in the media to not make sense. Even with that, we like to take some time periodically to appreciate them. It is good to see one held up as a positive role model.
We should never forget that most flights arrive safely at their destination, with no injuries or fatalities due to these individuals. If they appear cross, or irritable, well, we’ll attribute that to the pressure management has put on them, demanding lower pay and more hours.
Sully brings us back to the old days when the airline pilot was a hero to children, to be admired. We don’t think the so-called ‘glory days’ are coming back. But we wish that air travel hadn’t become a thing to dread for so many. In that vein, we’ve added in another retromercial from Youtube, a 1982 United Airlines commercial. Enjoy!
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