"I knew I had to solve this problem... I had to find a way OUT of this box I found myself in."

The above headline is a quote from Captain Sully in his first broadcast interview which aired last night. When Couric asked, "What were some of the things you had to do to make this landing successful?," Sully explained that he needed to touchdown:

• where the wings were exactly level...
• with the nose slightly up...
• at a decent recent rate that was survivable...
• just above the minimum flying speed--but not below it

... and he needed to make all these things happen simultaneously.

(Also, while not mentioned above, he also noted that a critical success factor was to land the plane close enough to boats so that the passengers could be rescued.)

Then Couric inquired, "And yet you had to 'keep your cool?" with Sully responding, "The physiological reaction I had to this was strong and I had to force myself to use my training and force calm on the situation."

Yet when she asked, "Was that a hard thing to do?" he simply replied:

"No. It just took some concentration."

Folks, in a time where there is so much economic chaos, concern and uncertainty, perhaps we should take a page from Captain Sully's book and "force some calm on the situation," too. When we look back at this time in our history, how we reacted to it, how we treated one another and how we worked our way out of it, I believe that keeping our cool will mark the difference as to whether we'll shake our heads or hold them high.

I’m not sure about you, but unless I encourage myself, my colleagues and my clients to calm down--so as to truly concentrate on the job at hand!--then we can’t get out of the box we all have found ourselves in either.

Astonishing the world of inspiration this one man has created. Let's not ever forget it and let's all learn from it. Especially given that this man was able to concentrate under actual life-threatening circumstances, and within a 3-minute emergency descent.

An 11-minute segment of the interview is below with many more excerpts here. For those reading via RSS fees or via email, please click through to the blog to view.

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Comments

[Connie Reece]

Thanks for the link to the 60 Minutes clips; I did not get to see the live broadcast. I agree at what an inspiration Capt. Sully is, not just for this one particular incident but for the times in which we live. It could be that there are many more "Sully's" out there but we don't hear about them because their circumstances are not so dramatic. In any case, he certainly serves as an example for keeping your cool and doing what you know is right, even when it is the most difficult--perhaps impossible.

[Ed]

Emergency landings on water often result in the highest fatality. The impact can easily break the tail section and wings, the subsequent roll of the fuselage marks the end of lives. The pilots have done a fantastic job landing his craft in one piece.

If there's one thing I can walk away with this episode, it would be "calculated risk". That's usually missing when people act on impulse.

[Lori Magno]

CK:

I wish the news media could make the same analogy as you have here. We do indeed need to "force calm" on the situation (and I think President Obama is doing his level best to do just that.)

Only by using every bit of training, skill, intuition and experience will we survive the current economic storm. But as Sully said in the interview on 60 Minutes "I knew I had to solve this problem" - and he had only seconds to make the decisions that saved the lives of 155 people. There is something to be said for making an informed gut call and taking action.

Hello Congress, Senate - Sully calling!

[vinod1kumar15]

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