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The Sullenberger - Skiles Effect

Flying

January 2017

Evaluating Sully.

As an airline pilot, I was anxious to watch Sully. Finally, I could attend an aviation movie without my wife having to bear witness to eyerolling and corrective commentary.

Most likely, as a Flying reader, you have already seen the film; if you haven’t, consider this a spoiler alert. Regardless, I thought it would be more interesting to provide insight into the realities of US Airways Flight 1549 than to offer a critique. I was afforded the opportunity for this insight via a conversation with Flight 1549 copilot Jeffrey Skiles. In addition, I felt it important to consider the movie’s potential effect on my profession and the flying public.

Overall, I was pleased that Sully was a mostly accurate portrayal of our business. It’s difficult to create a cinematic dud when you combine the talents of Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks, and the film could not have been cast better. It was a welcome relief that even the flight attendants acted with realism, abandoning the stereotypical, phony coffee tea-or-me demeanor of most airplane movies.

The depictions of pilot banter and checklist completion were superior; I never had to cringe. It was a pleasure to see a mostly sterile cockpit during the takeoff sequence. The fact that Hanks and Aaron Eckhart, as Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and Skiles, managed to capture the essence of realistic reactions to the emergency was a testament to a director who listens. I am certain that my colleagues felt the same.

But eventually, Hollywood departed the fix toward poetic license. As frustrating as it may be, that’s the producer’s prerogative. In this case, the rights to Sullenberger’s life story had already been sold back in 2010. That being said, Sully did make contributions to the script.