By now just about everyone has seen the surreal footage of the US Airways plane that glided into the icy waters of the Hudson River in New York City last January in an emergency landing. We saw the passengers standing on the wings of the plane – knee deep in water – waiting to be pulled into the boats that immediately converged on the scene. It’s hard not to imagine what it must’ve been like for the passengers on that plane. Harder still would be to imagine what it was like to be the man at the controls of that plane.
In his new book Highest Duty, Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger, the pilot of US Airways flight 1549, details not only the events of that unforgettable day, but he also reveals the inner workings of his life: where he comes from, his military background, and the important people, places, and events that have shaped him. Sully has a very strong work ethic and has always pushed himself to achieve excellence in every endeavor.
FYI…a few weeks after the crash, Sully discovered that he’d lost a library book about professional ethics, Just Culture: Balancing Safety and Accountability, in the downed plane’s cargo hold. When he called the library to notify them, they waived the usual fees. Mayor Michael Bloomberg replaced the book when he gave Sully the Key to the City in a New York ceremony. Check out this great video and fasten your seatbelts. This is quite the story…
-Virginia
