Only death
exempts the mind from wandering into the what-if especially having been so
close to death.
Even after successful
water landing on the Hudson River Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s (Tom Hanks) sees himself still crashing into buildings, which could have happened
had he strayed off the river.
The story of
that fateful flight is very straight forward. Capt Chesley Sullenberger, his
co-pilot and First Officer Jeff Skiles, and three stewardesses were manning the
US Airways Flight 1549 in a routine flight between New York to Charlotte, North
Carolina. The flight had 150 passengers on board.
Barely minutes
after take-off, Flight 1549 endured bird strikes that took out both engines.
Capt. Sully, basically left with an oversized metal glider, had the choice of
either Laguardia or Teterburo to make an emergency landing. After going through
a series of parameters, quickly and mentally, he glided the airplane into the
river. The plane suffered a breach but
was relatively intact albeit sinking. Only the quick response of New York’s
emergency services and nearby boat ferries managed to end this incident at zero
casualties.
Under creative
liberties the filmmakers avoided the simple straight forward. The story of
Sully starts days and months after the incident. Everything is framed with the
investigation of Capt. Sully and his First Officer Jeff Skiles by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The NTSB is an
American agency that determines the probable cause of the accidents and issues
safety recommendations aimed at preventing future accidents. A plane dived into
the Hudson; an investigation is just standard procedure.
So the start of
the film wherein Capt. Sully is seeing himself crash into a building is not
just a result of shocked nerves after having faced death so close; he really
has to replay the incident over and over again because he’s under
investigation. The investigation also
has an added benefit to the narrative as it provided a pretext to see different
points of view which should culminate in a full factual picture of the
incident.
Besides Capt.
Sully there is his crew, the passengers of US Airways Flight 1549, the ferry
boats of the Hudson River, and the City New York. Sully is a story about
community as much as it is about the man. Despite being a plane crash it was a
feel good moment for New York especially with its bad history with airplanes.
Unfortunately under
creative liberties the movie might have made a casualty of the reputations of
the NTSB panel making the investigations. Based on a Bloomberg
article, the NTSB has said they were not consulted in the making of the
film. Filmmakers on the other hand replied that the story was in Capt. Sully’s
point of view.
Story wise,
without knowing what went on in those hearings; I thought it outrageous that
the investigations can boil down to simulations vs. an experienced pilot. I
didn’t think it possible because I doubt NTSB would dare politically with the
incident practically deified as the Miracle of the Hudson. Besides even if they
dared can it really be possible to favour simulations over an experienced
pilot? Or is it a case to case basis?
I also thought
than in a post September 11 world there is fear against a piloted projectile
such as an airplane. Those fears are what I was thinking of every time the
story cuts into Sully’s nightmares. September 11 comes to mind also in cuts of
the citizens watching the Flight 1549 going down; like you can almost hear them
say, ‘not again’. And yet with all this
history the investigation hinges only on the Flight 1549’s ability to make the
airport or not?
Acting wise,
what negative can I say about Tom Hanks? He exudes hero even without the
physicality of someone like Tom Cruise who is more an action hero. Tom has a face you’d just believe whether it
be stranded on an island or piloting a plane to the river. Tom has a brilliant
support cast led by his first officer played Aaron Eckhart and his wife played Laura Linney.
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