Calm Leadership on US Airways Flight 1549

Posted on Feb 6, 2009 by Jeff "Odie" Espenship

US Air 1549 in the Hudson River

Captain Chesley Sullenberger of US Air Flight 1549 and the rest of the US Air crew team did a remarkable job in safely executing their tasks in a very tense and time critical situation. Dual engine failure of a commercial airliner full of people, at low altitude over a densely populated area would certainly make anyone’s initial reaction one of “shock” and “disbelief.”

For those who have been in aviation long enough, many of us have faced emergency situations in the cockpit that required timely execution of tasks in an abbreviated manner. Staying calm “when facing the storm” is key in any emergency situation. Training, competence, and experience saves lives, and it saved the lives of everyone onboard US Air Flight 1549.

This underscores the importance of core competence, training, and evaluations in any profession. As well, individuals and teams who work in any high risk industry should always plan for and brief contingencies, the “what if’s”. Encourage everyone to think processes through to their worst logical conclusion, then brief a back up plan.

This attitude saves lives, and it saved my life one afternoon after the engine decided to quit in the airplane I was flying. Like the crew of US Air flight 1549, my initial reaction was one of “disbelief”! I remember the silence of no engine running was deafening. Competence and training kicked in. I already had an emergency field picked out “just in case” the engine quit. I reacted calmly but quickly, and after a safe landing, I was able to clean my drawers out to fly again another day. Your employees should always “scan the horizon” for emergency fields just in case their engine decides to quit. The attitude of always being prepared for the “what ifs” will soon become second nature. When an emergency does come up, the initial shock and disbelief will quickly be replaced with a calm deliberate demeanor to timely execute the contingency plan, just like Captain Chesley Sullenberger of US Air Flight 1549 and the rest of the US Air flight crew team!

Tagged: us airways flight 1549, leadership, captain chesley sullenberger, sullenberger, us air flight 1549

Comments

Dahmer said:

Training, training, training. Captain Sullenberger did a great job in a very difficult situation. I would also like to point out the safety culture of an industry where there are tens of thousands of departures everyday and you hear about almost every single incident/accident. Safety and safety training is ingrained in all pilots from the very first day of training due to the inhearent risk of the job. It is the companies, regulated by the government that spend the time and money to prepare for contingencies so that when faced with an emergency they can respond calmly and correctly. I think an overlooked hero in the US AIR accident is the industry that puts so much time and money into training and preparation into safety training. There are many high risk occupations and most have thousands of employees that stand ready to respond as Sully did in the event of an emergency. Success is where preparation meets opportunity.

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