Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and first officer Jeff Skiles drew a huge crowd to the Honda Forum Pavilion at AirVenture Oshkosh on Thursday afternoon — the audience filled every seat and spilled out dozens deep from both sides and the back, and even passing rain showers didn’t drive them away — and the crew was welcomed with a succession of standing ovations. For over an hour, the two sat on stage and talked about their dramatic flight last January, cracked jokes, and welcomed questions from the audience. Skiles, who said he is known to most of the media only as “the co-pilot,” quickly won over the crowd with his self-deprecating humor. “My role in this is, I’m the guy who flew the airplane into the birds,” he said. “So, I’d like a little credit for making Sully what he is today.” The two went on to tell the familiar story of the 208 seconds that elapsed between the time their A320 lost both engines, until they found themselves evacuating the airplane on the Hudson. Sullenberger said he had never had an engine failure before in 42 years of flying, and as they descended toward the river, he focused on energy management. “I knew I only had so much kinetic energy,” he said. “If we ran out too early, we would drop into the river, and if we ran out too late, it might compromise the integrity of the structure.” Once they committed to the Hudson, Skiles abandoned his attempts to restart the engines, and called out altitudes and airspeeds for the captain. And once they had ditched, Sullenberger said, they both turned to each other and said, almost simultaneously, “Well, that wasn’t as bad as I thought.”
Sullenberger said he thinks the A320 checklist could be revised to provide better guidance for a low-altitude engine-out procedure. The current procedures are based on the assumption of an engine failure at altitude, and are not time-critical. He also said that he stands by his assessment of the state of the airline industry, which he outlined to a congressional panel in February, when he said he was concerned that unless working conditions change, the profession will not be able to attract high quality crew. Skiles said that Sullenberger will return to the line for US Airways in September, and on that first flight back — and on Sullenberger’s last flight before he retires — Skiles would like to be in the right seat.
