Date: 1/22/2009
By DAVID B. CARUSO
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — A savvy pilot saved at least 155 lives when he guided a disabled US Airways jet to a relatively gentle landing in the Hudson River last week. He also may have protected his airline from the rash of lawsuits that usually follows a plane crash.
Legal experts say that because of its happy outcome, Flight 1549 has the potential to be among the least litigious airline crashes in recent memory.
“You may be looking at the rarest case where the accident is just an act of God,” said Justin Green, an attorney with the law firm Kreindler & Kreindler, which has extensive experience investigating aviation accidents.
Certainly, the blame game that normally accompanies air disasters has yet to turn up a villain in the Jan. 15 splash-landing.
All 155 passengers and crew members aboard the plane survived, thanks to exceptional flying by Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger and his co-pilot, Jeff Skiles. The rescue of the downed passengers, who stood on the floating plane’s wings, went off without a hitch. Injuries were relatively minor.
The investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing, but all indications are that the plane’s two engines were knocked out by a collision with a flock of large birds — a freak accident that some pilots and other experts have said might have been unavoidable.
Still, there may yet be room for victims upset by the experience to find grounds for a lawsuit, lawyers said, especially if further investigation reveals catastrophic engine failure or that the bird strike might have been avoided.
“I fundamentally do not believe in a pure act of God air crash,” said David Rapoport, a Chicago attorney with extensive experience in airline disaster litigation. “I have never found one yet … and when all the data is all in here, my suspicion is that this won’t be one, either.”
One possible area of litigation could be the effectiveness of programs aimed at driving birds away from LaGuardia Airport, where the flight originated.
Bird activity is a well-known hazard at LaGuardia, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs area airports, has implemented a wide array of measures aimed at driving away waterfowl, especially geese.
Green and other lawyers, however, noted that preliminary information seemed to indicate the collision took place miles from the Queens airport — 3,000 feet over the Bronx, airspace where the Port Authority has little or no ability to control bird activity.
Another question revolves around the possibility that a mechanical defect may have contributed to the simultaneous failures of both the jet’s engines.
“If, indeed, there was some other reason why one of the two engines failed, other than birds, you could have grounds for a suit,” said Mary Schiavo, an aviation lawyer and former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The National Safety Transportation Board has not yet begun its analysis of the engines. One of the engines was located at the bottom of the Hudson River on Wednesday, and the other was still attached to the rest of the plane, which was taken by barge to a Jersey City, N.J., marina over the weekend for inspection.
With just days lapsed since the crash, it’s impossible to measure how much legal activity it may someday generate.
Federal law, in fact, bars lawyers from soliciting business from air crash victims in the first 45 days after an incident.
New York state’s bar association sent lawyers to the hotel where some of the crash victims gathered last week, but they weren’t looking to pick up business; they were there predominantly to shoo away any ambulance chasers who turned up.
US Airways has already taken some steps to keep passengers happy, including cutting each one a check for $5,000 to cover their missing luggage.
The airline did not immediately respond to requests for comment on what other arrangements it might be making to compensate victims.
“I do think there will be payments to the people involved,” Rapoport said. “The airline’s insurers are probably willing to pay everybody something.”
But he and other lawyers also noted that Sullenberger’s successful water landing changed the case’s legal landscape dramatically.
“The difference between this being a case where you have half the plane dead and the other with serious injuries and everyone suing over post-traumatic stress disorder is the way the pilot performed,” Green said.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
NTSB: Airliner’s engines lost power at same time
Date: 1/19/2009
By KAREN MATTHEWS
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — A jetliner that crash-landed in the Hudson River had lost power simultaneously in both engines after reaching an altitude of only 3,200 feet, the plane’s black box recorders revealed Sunday.
The details that emerged confirmed the harrowing circumstances under which the pilot of the US Airways flight carrying 155 people maneuvered the plane over New York City and safely into the water after striking a flock of birds Thursday afternoon.
“The captain makes radio call to ATC (air traffic control) calling mayday and reports that they hit birds, lost both engines and were returning to LaGuardia” airport, said Kitty Higgins, a National Transportation Safety Board member, releasing cockpit transmissions captured on flight data and voice recorders.
The wreckage of the Airbus A320 was moved by barge Sunday night to a New Jersey marina, where investigators planned to inspect the extent of the damage more closely.
Investigators already have seen significant damage to the tail and to compartments at the bottom of the plane that opened on impact, Higgins said.
Under a heavy snowfall, tugboats pulled the barge from a seawall a few blocks from the World Trade Center site on a 90-minute trip to the Weeks Marina in Jersey City.
The barge carrying the aircraft and another carrying a large crane arrived at a loading dock on the marina’s outskirts, not far from a site where BMW automobiles are unloaded and stored. Several fire trucks and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police cars were at the site.
The search for the plane’s missing left engine is suspended until Tuesday because ice floes in the river make it too dangerous to put divers or special sonar equipment in the water, Higgins said.
She heaped praise on the flight crew, led by US Airways Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger, who spoke to NTSB investigators Saturday.
“Miracles happen because a lot of everyday things happen for years and years and years,” she said. “These people knew what they were supposed to do and they did it and as a result, nobody lost their life.”
Sullenberger had been scheduled to give his first public interview on Monday morning to NBC “Today” show host Matt Lauer, but the appearance was canceled Sunday at the request of the U.S. Airline Pilots Association.
Stephen Bradford, president of the association, said he asked Sullenberger not to engage in any media activities because the pilots association has “interested party” status with the NTSB, which allows it to participate in the investigation.
Sullenberger released a statement deferring to the advice. “The Sullenbergers continue to thank their many well-wishers for the incredible outpouring of support,” the statement said.
The mayor of his hometown, Danville, Calif., said the pilot and his family were attending President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration.
Mayor Newell Arnerich said Lorraine Sullenberger told city officials that the family would leave for the East Coast on Sunday. She and the couple’s daughters haven’t seen Sullenberger since he’s been hailed as a hero for saving the lives of all 155 on board.
The area where the barge was moored was closed to the public Sunday, but it attracted hundreds of residents and tourists, who snapped pictures of the plane wreckage.
Kelsey Higginbotham, a 20-year-old student at East Tennessee State University, peered at the crippled aircraft Sunday from behind police barricades.
She and a friend had been to Times Square, Central Park and the site of the World Trade Center, where nearly 2,800 people were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks. She said she was struck by the contrast between one disaster in which so many people died and another in which everyone survived.
“It’s a miracle,” she said. “I guess New Yorkers can’t take any more tragedy.”
___
Associated Press writers Victor Epstein contributed to this report from Jersey City, N.J., and Jason Dearen contributed from San Francisco.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By KAREN MATTHEWS
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — A jetliner that crash-landed in the Hudson River had lost power simultaneously in both engines after reaching an altitude of only 3,200 feet, the plane’s black box recorders revealed Sunday.
The details that emerged confirmed the harrowing circumstances under which the pilot of the US Airways flight carrying 155 people maneuvered the plane over New York City and safely into the water after striking a flock of birds Thursday afternoon.
“The captain makes radio call to ATC (air traffic control) calling mayday and reports that they hit birds, lost both engines and were returning to LaGuardia” airport, said Kitty Higgins, a National Transportation Safety Board member, releasing cockpit transmissions captured on flight data and voice recorders.
The wreckage of the Airbus A320 was moved by barge Sunday night to a New Jersey marina, where investigators planned to inspect the extent of the damage more closely.
Investigators already have seen significant damage to the tail and to compartments at the bottom of the plane that opened on impact, Higgins said.
Under a heavy snowfall, tugboats pulled the barge from a seawall a few blocks from the World Trade Center site on a 90-minute trip to the Weeks Marina in Jersey City.
The barge carrying the aircraft and another carrying a large crane arrived at a loading dock on the marina’s outskirts, not far from a site where BMW automobiles are unloaded and stored. Several fire trucks and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police cars were at the site.
The search for the plane’s missing left engine is suspended until Tuesday because ice floes in the river make it too dangerous to put divers or special sonar equipment in the water, Higgins said.
She heaped praise on the flight crew, led by US Airways Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger, who spoke to NTSB investigators Saturday.
“Miracles happen because a lot of everyday things happen for years and years and years,” she said. “These people knew what they were supposed to do and they did it and as a result, nobody lost their life.”
Sullenberger had been scheduled to give his first public interview on Monday morning to NBC “Today” show host Matt Lauer, but the appearance was canceled Sunday at the request of the U.S. Airline Pilots Association.
Stephen Bradford, president of the association, said he asked Sullenberger not to engage in any media activities because the pilots association has “interested party” status with the NTSB, which allows it to participate in the investigation.
Sullenberger released a statement deferring to the advice. “The Sullenbergers continue to thank their many well-wishers for the incredible outpouring of support,” the statement said.
The mayor of his hometown, Danville, Calif., said the pilot and his family were attending President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration.
Mayor Newell Arnerich said Lorraine Sullenberger told city officials that the family would leave for the East Coast on Sunday. She and the couple’s daughters haven’t seen Sullenberger since he’s been hailed as a hero for saving the lives of all 155 on board.
The area where the barge was moored was closed to the public Sunday, but it attracted hundreds of residents and tourists, who snapped pictures of the plane wreckage.
Kelsey Higginbotham, a 20-year-old student at East Tennessee State University, peered at the crippled aircraft Sunday from behind police barricades.
She and a friend had been to Times Square, Central Park and the site of the World Trade Center, where nearly 2,800 people were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks. She said she was struck by the contrast between one disaster in which so many people died and another in which everyone survived.
“It’s a miracle,” she said. “I guess New Yorkers can’t take any more tragedy.”
___
Associated Press writers Victor Epstein contributed to this report from Jersey City, N.J., and Jason Dearen contributed from San Francisco.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Plane’s recorders support hero pilot’s account
Date: 1/19/2009
By KAREN MATTHEWS
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The black box recorders recovered from the US Airways jetliner that splashed down in the Hudson River captured thumping sounds, the sudden loss of engine power and the pilot’s calm “Mayday” call, evidence that seems to back up the crew’s account of hitting a flock of birds shortly after takeoff.
The National Transportation Safety Board gave an account of its interview with the pilot, Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger, and dispatches from the cockpit voice recorder emerged over the weekend.
Meanwhile, in snowy weather Sunday night, tugboats pulled the barge carrying the Airbus A320 from a seawall a few blocks from the World Trade Center site on a 90-minute trip to the Weeks Marina in Jersey City, N.J.
Investigators on Monday want to look more closely at the cockpit, the attached right engine, and the interior of the cabin, said safety board member Kitty Higgins.
The dispatches on the cockpit voice recorder were described as “a very calm, collected exercise,” veteran safety board investigator Robert Benzon said Sunday. Higgins added: “It was very matter of fact.”
Sullenberger, credited with helping save the lives of all 155 people aboard Thursday, reported that the plane had hit birds and lost both engines shortly after investigators heard “the sound of thumps and a rapid decrease in engine sounds,” Higgins said.
Sullenberger then discussed airport landing sites before deciding to attempt a river landing, she said. Ninety seconds before ditching the plane, he told passengers “brace for impact” and informed controllers “they will be in the Hudson River,” Higgins said.
The pilot, who has not publicly talked about the crash, canceled what was to be his first interview Monday, on NBC’s “Today” show. The show said it would interview Sullenberger in a couple of days.
Stephen Bradford, president of the U.S. Airline Pilots Association, said he asked Sullenberger not to talk to the media to avoid jeoparding the association’s “interested party” status with the NTSB, which allows it to participate in the investigation.
“If the NTSB perceives that we are in any way compromising the objectivity of the investigation by innocuously releasing information to the media, our status will be rescinded and we will be unable to help determine the causal factors leading up to this very positive and well-documented outcome,” he said.
Instead, Sullenberger released a statement through a family spokesperson. “The Sullenbergers continue to thank their many well-wishers for the incredible outpouring of support,” it said. The pilot was invited to attend President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration on Tuesday, according to the mayor of his hometown, Danville, Calif.
Also Monday, the entire crew — Sullenberger, first officer and co-pilot Jeff Skiles, and flight attendants Sheila Dail, Doreen Welsh and Donna Dent — said in a joint statement they want the media to respect their decision not to give interviews during the investigation.
The crew members said they “wish to offer their sincere thanks and appreciation for the overwhelming support, praise and well wishes they have received from the public around the world since the events of last Thursday.”
They said they are willing to do media interviews “when the time is right.”
Investigators have seen significant damage to the tail and to compartments at the bottom of the plane that opened on impact. The right engine was severely dented but its fan blades were intact, Benzon said.
The search for the plane’s missing left engine was suspended until Tuesday because ice floes in the river make it too dangerous to put divers or special sonar equipment in the water, Higgins said.
In Washington, safety board spokesman Peter Knudson said preliminary indications from radar data of the plane’s takeoff Thursday from LaGuardia Airport “did not show any targets” that might be birds. But investigators will keep looking, he said.
“We are going to go and get all the electronic data necessary to get a complete picture of what was on his screen. It’s possible there was more being displayed than we initially understood. We just don’t know definitively at this point — we don’t know exactly what was shown on that radar screen,” Knudson said.
Higgins heaped praise on Sullenberger and the flight crew, noting they all had 20 or more years experience and were trained to do their jobs.
“Miracles happen because a lot of everyday things happen for years and years and years,” she said. “These people knew what they were supposed to do and they did it and as a result, nobody lost their life.”
Benzon said the probe may ultimately focus more on what went right than what went wrong Thursday. “This accident and this investigation are going to be studied for years and years and years,” he said. “Why did everything work so well?
“We need to know that so we can apply it to other phases of aviation, other aircraft, perhaps newer aircraft. It’s going to be fun.”
The area where the plane was moored in New York was closed to the public Sunday, but before it was moved it attracted hundreds of people who snapped pictures of the plane wreckage.
Kelsey Higginbotham, a 20-year-old student at East Tennessee State University, looked at the damaged aircraft Sunday from behind police barricades.
She and a friend had been to Times Square, Central Park and the site of the World Trade Center, where nearly 2,800 people were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks. She said she was struck by the contrast between one disaster in which so many people died and another in which everyone survived.
“It’s a miracle,” she said. “I guess New Yorkers can’t take any more tragedy.”
___
Associated Press writers Victor Epstein in Jersey City, N.J.; Harry Weber in Atlanta; Jason Dearen in San Francisco; and Lou Kesten and Joan Lowy in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By KAREN MATTHEWS
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The black box recorders recovered from the US Airways jetliner that splashed down in the Hudson River captured thumping sounds, the sudden loss of engine power and the pilot’s calm “Mayday” call, evidence that seems to back up the crew’s account of hitting a flock of birds shortly after takeoff.
The National Transportation Safety Board gave an account of its interview with the pilot, Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger, and dispatches from the cockpit voice recorder emerged over the weekend.
Meanwhile, in snowy weather Sunday night, tugboats pulled the barge carrying the Airbus A320 from a seawall a few blocks from the World Trade Center site on a 90-minute trip to the Weeks Marina in Jersey City, N.J.
Investigators on Monday want to look more closely at the cockpit, the attached right engine, and the interior of the cabin, said safety board member Kitty Higgins.
The dispatches on the cockpit voice recorder were described as “a very calm, collected exercise,” veteran safety board investigator Robert Benzon said Sunday. Higgins added: “It was very matter of fact.”
Sullenberger, credited with helping save the lives of all 155 people aboard Thursday, reported that the plane had hit birds and lost both engines shortly after investigators heard “the sound of thumps and a rapid decrease in engine sounds,” Higgins said.
Sullenberger then discussed airport landing sites before deciding to attempt a river landing, she said. Ninety seconds before ditching the plane, he told passengers “brace for impact” and informed controllers “they will be in the Hudson River,” Higgins said.
The pilot, who has not publicly talked about the crash, canceled what was to be his first interview Monday, on NBC’s “Today” show. The show said it would interview Sullenberger in a couple of days.
Stephen Bradford, president of the U.S. Airline Pilots Association, said he asked Sullenberger not to talk to the media to avoid jeoparding the association’s “interested party” status with the NTSB, which allows it to participate in the investigation.
“If the NTSB perceives that we are in any way compromising the objectivity of the investigation by innocuously releasing information to the media, our status will be rescinded and we will be unable to help determine the causal factors leading up to this very positive and well-documented outcome,” he said.
Instead, Sullenberger released a statement through a family spokesperson. “The Sullenbergers continue to thank their many well-wishers for the incredible outpouring of support,” it said. The pilot was invited to attend President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration on Tuesday, according to the mayor of his hometown, Danville, Calif.
Also Monday, the entire crew — Sullenberger, first officer and co-pilot Jeff Skiles, and flight attendants Sheila Dail, Doreen Welsh and Donna Dent — said in a joint statement they want the media to respect their decision not to give interviews during the investigation.
The crew members said they “wish to offer their sincere thanks and appreciation for the overwhelming support, praise and well wishes they have received from the public around the world since the events of last Thursday.”
They said they are willing to do media interviews “when the time is right.”
Investigators have seen significant damage to the tail and to compartments at the bottom of the plane that opened on impact. The right engine was severely dented but its fan blades were intact, Benzon said.
The search for the plane’s missing left engine was suspended until Tuesday because ice floes in the river make it too dangerous to put divers or special sonar equipment in the water, Higgins said.
In Washington, safety board spokesman Peter Knudson said preliminary indications from radar data of the plane’s takeoff Thursday from LaGuardia Airport “did not show any targets” that might be birds. But investigators will keep looking, he said.
“We are going to go and get all the electronic data necessary to get a complete picture of what was on his screen. It’s possible there was more being displayed than we initially understood. We just don’t know definitively at this point — we don’t know exactly what was shown on that radar screen,” Knudson said.
Higgins heaped praise on Sullenberger and the flight crew, noting they all had 20 or more years experience and were trained to do their jobs.
“Miracles happen because a lot of everyday things happen for years and years and years,” she said. “These people knew what they were supposed to do and they did it and as a result, nobody lost their life.”
Benzon said the probe may ultimately focus more on what went right than what went wrong Thursday. “This accident and this investigation are going to be studied for years and years and years,” he said. “Why did everything work so well?
“We need to know that so we can apply it to other phases of aviation, other aircraft, perhaps newer aircraft. It’s going to be fun.”
The area where the plane was moored in New York was closed to the public Sunday, but before it was moved it attracted hundreds of people who snapped pictures of the plane wreckage.
Kelsey Higginbotham, a 20-year-old student at East Tennessee State University, looked at the damaged aircraft Sunday from behind police barricades.
She and a friend had been to Times Square, Central Park and the site of the World Trade Center, where nearly 2,800 people were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks. She said she was struck by the contrast between one disaster in which so many people died and another in which everyone survived.
“It’s a miracle,” she said. “I guess New Yorkers can’t take any more tragedy.”
___
Associated Press writers Victor Epstein in Jersey City, N.J.; Harry Weber in Atlanta; Jason Dearen in San Francisco; and Lou Kesten and Joan Lowy in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
A national hero but not quite in the spotlight
Date: 1/18/2009
By VERENA DOBNIK
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — They are already talking about building a statue of Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger. Lucrative book and movie deals could follow.
But even though the death-defying pilot of Flight 1549 is being celebrated as a hero, he still faces an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board that will critique his every action.
As details of his account to investigators emerged Saturday, however, it seemed his prospects for further accolades and celebrity could only increase. He recounted making a split-second decision that not only saved everyone onboard but also spared people on the ground from what he called “catastrophic consequences.”
His description, as recounted by NTSB board member Kitty Higgins, underscored passengers’ accounts of the cool-headed, decisive captain who steered the hobbled plane calmly to a safe landing in the Hudson River.
With both engines out after the plane crossed paths with a flock of large birds, Sullenberger took control of the aircraft and quickly made the call: The plane was “too low, too slow” and near too many buildings to risk trying to return to LaGuardia Airport or fly to another one in New Jersey.
“We can’t do it,” he told air traffic controllers. “We’re gonna be in the Hudson.”
Sullenberger angled the nose of the jet liner downward, to maintain speed. When attempts to restart the engines failed, he started preparing to hit the water. When he landed in the Hudson, passengers opend their eyes in shock: They were still alive.
After they lost electricity, Sullenberger went into the cabin, checking for a count of passengers and rechecking to make sure no one was left behind.
But despite the dramatic tale, union officials say, the continuing investigation may be why Sullenberger has stayed quiet as his star has risen.
“Until the NTSB says, ‘He’s a hero,’ he’s under investigation,” said James Ray, a spokesman for the US Airline Pilots Association, which represents crews at US Airways. “The NTSB usually discourages people from calling anyone a hero until facts are in.”
Although the NTSB has made no suggestion that Sullenberger deserves anything but praise for his handling of the accident, a complicated investigation still needs to proceed, following the interviews of Sullenberger and his first officer, Jeff Skiles, on Saturday by the NTSB.
Sullenberger was seen entering a conference room of a lower Manhattan hotel, surrounded by federal investigators. The silver-haired pilot was wearing a white shirt and slacks and seemed composed. When a reporter approached him for comment, one of the officials responded: “No chance.”
The pilots have already given several briefings to a union investigation team, to US Airways officials and to their own lawyers, Ray said. Pilots also routinely have a lawyer accompany them to their NTSB briefing.
He said the process was not an exercise in finger-pointing, but noted that the analysis can be rigorous, and that investigators make every effort to uncover instances of human error or mechanical failure.
But one thing is clear: Sullenberger is a publicist’s dream.
“He’s down in history now. And if he’s handled well, with modesty and intelligence, he will remain a U.S. icon,” said prominent New York City publicist Howard Rubenstein.
Rubenstein described the crash-landing as a “few split seconds that have created one of the best publicity events ever.”
The pilot had the career and resume that seemed made for this kind of situation: He got his pilot’s license at 14, was named best aviator in his class at the Air Force Academy, investigated air disasters, mastered glider flying and even studied the psychology of how airline crews behave in a crisis.
And when Thursday’s potential disaster hit, he handled the situation with remarkable calm. As the passengers were helped into rescue boats, he walked through the cabin to make sure everyone got out.
Los Angeles publicist Cindy Rakowitz said Sullenberger projects integrity “by the way his heroic response is talked about by the passengers on the plane, from the moment this happened.” She expects his modest demeanor to translate into a smart response to his newfound fame.
“You’re not going to see this man on TMZ promoting somebody’s jewelry wearing a gold chain,” she said, referring to an entertainment-news Web site.
But faced with an onslaught of publicity-seekers, “he’s going to have to hire somebody, or US Airways is going to be very, very busy working on his behalf” — fielding producers, directors and book publishers wanting to give him advances on his story.
And NBC announced on Saturday that Sullenberger would first tell his story on the “Today” show to host Matt Lauer on Monday.
Ray said Sullenberger certainly had no shortage of offers.
“He’s been approached by every opportunist in the world to tell his story,” he said. “This guy could probably sell anything right now.”
For starters, his new prominence is bound to attract new business to the private firm he started several years ago to give advice on how to apply aviation safety techniques to other fields.
And while Sullenberger was sequestered, the whole country was coming up with ideas on how to celebrate America’s newest hero.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said a key to his city awaits him, and “Sully” got congratulatory phone calls from both President Bush and President-elect Barack Obama.
The pilot’s wife, Lorrie Sullenberger, said from their home in Danville, Calif., that a trip to Obama’s inauguration for her, her husband and their two daughters was “in the works.”
“The Facebook Page of Fans of Sully Sullenberger” had more than 172,000 fans as of Saturday. It proposes a ticker-tape parade up New York’s “Canyon of Heroes,” and another fan suggests the parade should be a flotilla down the Hudson, adding, “No geese floats will be allowed!!”
Other suggested Facebook ideas include the congressional Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given to a civilian for exceptional service in peacetime; a bridge or tunnel named after Sullenberger; a pay raise “and anything else he wants.”
The Facebook page sums up popular feeling toward the pilot: “Woohoo!”
___
Associated Press writers Adam Goldman and David B. Caruso contributed to this report.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By VERENA DOBNIK
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — They are already talking about building a statue of Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger. Lucrative book and movie deals could follow.
But even though the death-defying pilot of Flight 1549 is being celebrated as a hero, he still faces an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board that will critique his every action.
As details of his account to investigators emerged Saturday, however, it seemed his prospects for further accolades and celebrity could only increase. He recounted making a split-second decision that not only saved everyone onboard but also spared people on the ground from what he called “catastrophic consequences.”
His description, as recounted by NTSB board member Kitty Higgins, underscored passengers’ accounts of the cool-headed, decisive captain who steered the hobbled plane calmly to a safe landing in the Hudson River.
With both engines out after the plane crossed paths with a flock of large birds, Sullenberger took control of the aircraft and quickly made the call: The plane was “too low, too slow” and near too many buildings to risk trying to return to LaGuardia Airport or fly to another one in New Jersey.
“We can’t do it,” he told air traffic controllers. “We’re gonna be in the Hudson.”
Sullenberger angled the nose of the jet liner downward, to maintain speed. When attempts to restart the engines failed, he started preparing to hit the water. When he landed in the Hudson, passengers opend their eyes in shock: They were still alive.
After they lost electricity, Sullenberger went into the cabin, checking for a count of passengers and rechecking to make sure no one was left behind.
But despite the dramatic tale, union officials say, the continuing investigation may be why Sullenberger has stayed quiet as his star has risen.
“Until the NTSB says, ‘He’s a hero,’ he’s under investigation,” said James Ray, a spokesman for the US Airline Pilots Association, which represents crews at US Airways. “The NTSB usually discourages people from calling anyone a hero until facts are in.”
Although the NTSB has made no suggestion that Sullenberger deserves anything but praise for his handling of the accident, a complicated investigation still needs to proceed, following the interviews of Sullenberger and his first officer, Jeff Skiles, on Saturday by the NTSB.
Sullenberger was seen entering a conference room of a lower Manhattan hotel, surrounded by federal investigators. The silver-haired pilot was wearing a white shirt and slacks and seemed composed. When a reporter approached him for comment, one of the officials responded: “No chance.”
The pilots have already given several briefings to a union investigation team, to US Airways officials and to their own lawyers, Ray said. Pilots also routinely have a lawyer accompany them to their NTSB briefing.
He said the process was not an exercise in finger-pointing, but noted that the analysis can be rigorous, and that investigators make every effort to uncover instances of human error or mechanical failure.
But one thing is clear: Sullenberger is a publicist’s dream.
“He’s down in history now. And if he’s handled well, with modesty and intelligence, he will remain a U.S. icon,” said prominent New York City publicist Howard Rubenstein.
Rubenstein described the crash-landing as a “few split seconds that have created one of the best publicity events ever.”
The pilot had the career and resume that seemed made for this kind of situation: He got his pilot’s license at 14, was named best aviator in his class at the Air Force Academy, investigated air disasters, mastered glider flying and even studied the psychology of how airline crews behave in a crisis.
And when Thursday’s potential disaster hit, he handled the situation with remarkable calm. As the passengers were helped into rescue boats, he walked through the cabin to make sure everyone got out.
Los Angeles publicist Cindy Rakowitz said Sullenberger projects integrity “by the way his heroic response is talked about by the passengers on the plane, from the moment this happened.” She expects his modest demeanor to translate into a smart response to his newfound fame.
“You’re not going to see this man on TMZ promoting somebody’s jewelry wearing a gold chain,” she said, referring to an entertainment-news Web site.
But faced with an onslaught of publicity-seekers, “he’s going to have to hire somebody, or US Airways is going to be very, very busy working on his behalf” — fielding producers, directors and book publishers wanting to give him advances on his story.
And NBC announced on Saturday that Sullenberger would first tell his story on the “Today” show to host Matt Lauer on Monday.
Ray said Sullenberger certainly had no shortage of offers.
“He’s been approached by every opportunist in the world to tell his story,” he said. “This guy could probably sell anything right now.”
For starters, his new prominence is bound to attract new business to the private firm he started several years ago to give advice on how to apply aviation safety techniques to other fields.
And while Sullenberger was sequestered, the whole country was coming up with ideas on how to celebrate America’s newest hero.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said a key to his city awaits him, and “Sully” got congratulatory phone calls from both President Bush and President-elect Barack Obama.
The pilot’s wife, Lorrie Sullenberger, said from their home in Danville, Calif., that a trip to Obama’s inauguration for her, her husband and their two daughters was “in the works.”
“The Facebook Page of Fans of Sully Sullenberger” had more than 172,000 fans as of Saturday. It proposes a ticker-tape parade up New York’s “Canyon of Heroes,” and another fan suggests the parade should be a flotilla down the Hudson, adding, “No geese floats will be allowed!!”
Other suggested Facebook ideas include the congressional Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given to a civilian for exceptional service in peacetime; a bridge or tunnel named after Sullenberger; a pay raise “and anything else he wants.”
The Facebook page sums up popular feeling toward the pilot: “Woohoo!”
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Associated Press writers Adam Goldman and David B. Caruso contributed to this report.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.