Highest Duty (25 page)

He looked at me, and I saw tears in his eyes. “Thank you,” he said. I was a bit choked up myself. We hugged, then stood together for a moment in that hallway, not saying anything. We were two men who’d been through something extraordinary together and couldn’t find the words to fully capture it.

Eventually, we made our way back to the CVR lab, where we joined the investigators and listened to the cockpit recording again and again.

W
HEN
K
ELLY
was very young, she once asked me, “What’s the best job in the world?”

My answer to her was this: “It’s the job you would do even if you didn’t have to.” It’s so important for people to find jobs suited to their strengths and their passions. People who love their jobs work more diligently at them. They become more adept at the intricacies of their duties. They serve the world well.

On January 14, 2009, my life had been a series of thoughtful opportunities to be the best pilot, leader, and teammate I could be. I was an anonymous, regular guy—a husband, a father, a US Airways pilot. On January 15, circumstances changed everything, a reminder that none of us ever knows what tomorrow will bring.

I flew thousands of flights in the last forty-two years, but my entire career is now being judged by how I performed on one of
them. This has been a reminder to me: We need to try to do the right thing every time, to perform at our best, because we never know which moment in our lives we’ll be judged on.

I’ve told Kate and Kelly that each of us has the responsibility to prepare ourselves well. I want them to invest in themselves, to never stop learning, either professionally or personally. At the end of their lives, like all of us, I expect they might ask themselves a simple question: Did I make a difference? My wish for them is that the answer to that question will be yes.

As for myself, I look back at everything and continue to feel lucky. I found my passion very early. At five years old, I knew I would spend my life flying. At sixteen, I was already in the sky alone, practicing and practicing, circling happily above Mr. Cook’s grass strip.

In the years that followed, my romance with flying helped sustain me. At twenty-four, I was a fighter pilot, learning that I had to pay the closest attention to everything, because life and death could be separated by seconds and by feet. By fifty-seven, I was a gray-haired man with my hands on the controls of an Airbus A320 over Manhattan, using a lifetime of knowledge to find a way to safety.

Through it all, my love of flying has never wavered. I’m still that eleven-year-old boy with his face pressed against the window of the Convair 440, ready to take my first ride out of Dallas on an airplane. I’m still that earnest teen who flew low over our house on Hanna Drive, waving to my mom and sister on the ground. I’m still the serious young Air Force cadet, in awe of all the fighter pilots who came before me and showed me the way.

Just as I completely love Lorrie, Kate, and Kelly, I will never shake my love of flying. Never.

At the moment, I’m not sure exactly what my next steps in life might be. Where will flying take me next? What tests are ahead? What opportunities? I do know that I will continue to be an airline pilot. It’s part of what gives me purpose. It’s a big part of who I am.

I’m sure there will be passengers on future US Airways flights who will look toward the closed cockpit doors and wonder: Who is flying this plane today? Most likely, the captain will be one of my colleagues, an aviator who is well disciplined and well trained, with the highest sense of duty and a great love of flight.

Then again, the guy behind that door may be me. Once we’re in the air, I’ll say a few words about the cruising altitude, the flying time, and the weather. I’ll remind passengers to keep their seat belts fastened, because turbulence often comes unexpectedly. And then I’ll switch off the public address system, and I’ll do my job.

I
COULD NOT
have written this book without the support of my family. Kelly, Kate, and Lorrie have always been there for me with their thoughtfulness, love, and kindness. I know that every moment I spent writing was a moment I could not spend with them, which made this project all the more difficult. I am grateful for your understanding in granting me the time I needed to write this book.

The best preparation for this event was to have the right partner in my life. I wish everyone could find someone as smart, caring, supportive, independent, well-spoken, and strong as Lorraine Sullenberger. Lorrie, I couldn’t have made it through the aftermath of January 15 without you at my side and in my heart.

My mother and father taught me about hard work, integrity, and lifelong education. I am grateful to them for instilling in me
a set of values which have been constant guideposts throughout my life. I also thank my sister, Mary, for her love and support.

On January 15, 2009, First Officer Jeff Skiles and I found ourselves in a crucible where we were fighting for our lives and the lives of all our passengers and crew. We worked together closely from start to finish, and our effective teamwork was essential in achieving a successful outcome. Jeff, you have my eternal gratitude for your skill and bravery.

Jeff and I were joined on Flight 1549 by flight attendants Donna Dent, Doreen Welsh, and Sheila Dail, whose instinctive and immediate collaboration in a time of crisis kept the passengers calm and helped us overcome the challenges we faced. I continue to be impressed with your strength and steadfastness since that day.

I thank the people of Denison, Texas, who helped shape me as a youth, and the people of Danville, California, whom I am proud to count as neighbors and friends. I also want to thank the people of New York and New Jersey, especially NY Waterway, the New York Police Department, the United States Coast Guard, the Fire Department of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the New York City Office of Emergency Management. I owe a debt of gratitude to all those who played a role in saving our lives on January 15.

Thank you to Lorrie’s friends Tamara Wheeler, Margaret Combs, Bunny Martin, Kathy Giger, and Heather Hildebrand. In the hours following the Hudson landing, when I was attending to my duties in New York and could not be with my wife and
girls, these women helped my family through the sudden and overwhelming media attention.

While I’ve read my fair share of books over the years, I never thought that I’d find myself writing one, and Jeff Zaslow has been a remarkable partner throughout this endeavor. I am thankful for his assistance, his investigative skills, his instincts as a veteran reporter, and his unfailingly sage advice.

The team at HarperCollins did a great job of guiding this first-time writer through the process. I’d like to thank David Highfill, Seale Ballinger, Sharyn Rosenblum, and the entire HarperCollins team that helped me get this project off the ground and onto the bookshelf.

My literary agent, Jan Miller, and her associate Shannon Marven have also offered tremendous advice and counsel. They and their colleagues at Dupree/Miller helped me find my way to HarperCollins and deftly guided me through the process of taking a book from idea to completion.

Since the day after the event, Alex Clemens, Libby Smiley, and their colleagues at Barbary Coast Consulting have been by my family’s side, guiding us through this unfamiliar territory with their wise counsel and tireless efforts.

Thanks also to Gary Morris, Captain James Hayhurst, Alex King, Captain Al Haynes, Helen Ott, Bracha Nechama Bomze, Herman Bomze, Patrick Harten, Eric Stevenson, Conrad Mueller, Paul Kellen, Karen Kaiser Clark, Bart Simon, Theresa Hunsicker, and David Sontag.

My union colleagues were an incredible source of support on January 15, 2009, and throughout the aftermath. Thank you
especially to Captain Larry Rooney and Captain Dan Sicchio, who have spent countless hours assisting me with everything from my NTSB testimony to this book. Thanks also to First Officer Gary Bauhan, Captain Ken Blitchington, Captain Steve Bradford, Captain Dan Britt, Captain John Carey, Captain Carl Clarke, Captain Mike Cleary, First Officer Jeff Diercksmeier, Captain Peter Dolf, Captain David Douglas, Captain Arnie Gentile, First Officer Bob Georges, Captain Michael Greenlee, Captain Pete Griffith, Captain Jonathan Hobbs, Captain Mark King, Captain Tim Kirby, Captain Tom Kubik, Dr. Pete Lambrou, Captain Jan Randle, Captain James Ray, Captain John Sabel, Lee Seham, First Officer Carol Stone, Captain Gary Van Hartogh, Captain Valerie Wells, and Captain Lucy Young. Each of you was there for me at a time when I very much needed your help. I am indebted to you, and to all my brothers and sisters in the U.S. Airline Pilots Association.

I’d like to thank all the people who work at US Airways. You have consistently confronted the challenges facing our profession with grace and excellence, and I am proud to call you my colleagues. All airline employees have an important job to do, and despite changes in the industry, they do it well. Readers, I hope that the next time you fly, you take a moment to thank your flight attendants for continually preparing for your safety, and your pilots for the dedication and care with which they conduct each and every flight.

Thank you to my U.S. Air Force Academy classmate and retired Northwest Airlines captain Mike Hay and my fellow fighter pilot and current Southwest Airlines captain Jim Leslie for their
assistance in reviewing the events in this book and supplementing my memories with their own. While their help has been invaluable throughout the writing process, I take responsibility for the content of this book. Any errors or omissions are mine alone.

And finally, I’d like to thank L. T. Cook Jr., who saw the potential in me and helped me realize it.

National Transportation Safety Board Cockpit Voice Recorder Transcript Excerpt

Transcript of an Allied Signal/Honeywell model SSCVR cockpit voice recorder (CVR), s/n 2878, installed on an Airbus Industrie A320–214, registration N106US. The airplane was operated by US Airways as Flight 1549, when it ditched into the Hudson River, NY, on January 15, 2009.

LEGEND

RDO Radio transmission from accident aircraft, US Airways 1549

CAM Cockpit area microphone voice or sound source

PA Voice or sound heard on the public address system channel

HOT Hot microphone voice or sound source
¹

TOGA Takeoff/Go Around thrust

INTR Interphone communication to or from ground crew For RDO, CAM, PA, HOT and INTR comments:

• -1 Voice identified as the Captain (Hot-1: Capt. Sullenberger)
  
• -2 Voice identified as the First Officer (Hot-2: First Officer Skiles)
  
• -3 Voice identified as cabin crewmember
  
• -4 Voice identified as groundcrew
  
• -? Voice unidentified
  

FWC Automated callout or sound from the Flight Warning Computer

TCAS Automated callout or sound from the Traffic Collision Avoidance System

PWS Automated callout or sound from the Predictive Windshear System

GPWS Automated callout or sound from the Ground Proximity Warning System

EGPWS Automated callout or sound from the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System

TWR Radio transmission from the Air Traffic Control Tower at LaGuardia

DEP Radio transmission from LaGuardia departure control (Air Traffic Control Specialist Harten)

CH[1234] CVR Channel identifier 1 = Captain 2 = First Officer 3 = PA 4 = Cockpit Area Microphone

^*
Unintelligible word

@ Non-Pertinent word

& Third party personal name (see note 5 below)

# Expletive

-,—Break in continuity or interruption in comment

( ) Questionable insertion

[ ] Editorial insertion

…Pause

Note 1: Times are expressed in Eastern Standard Time (EST), based on the clock used to timestamp the recorded radar data from the Newark ASR-9.

Note 2: Generally, only radio transmissions to and from the accident aircraft were transcribed.

Note 3: Words shown with excess vowels, letters, or drawn out syllables are a phonetic representation of the words as spoken.

Note 4: A non-pertinent word, where noted, refers to a word not directly related to the operation, control or condition of the aircraft.

Note 5: Personal names of 3rd parties not involved in the conversation are generally not transcribed.