'Surreal' says pilot of ditching > AviationRecord.com - Latest and Breaking Aviation and Airline News

Wednesday, 4 February 2009

'Surreal' says pilot of ditching
10:46 PM :: 0 Comments ::

NEW YORK: In his first public comments on safely ditching a passenger jet in New York's Hudson River, US Airways pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger says the ordeal was “surreal” while the silence in the cockpit after both engines lost power was “shocking”.

He told ESPN that while he was guiding the plane to the ditching he felt “calm on the outside, turmoil on the inside”.

The California pilot has been called a hero for safely ditching the Airbus 320, which lost power in both engines after hitting a flock of birds shortly after taking off from New York's LaGuardia Airport. All 150 passengers and crew members were rescued safely.

“It was very quiet as we worked, my co-pilot and I,” said Sullenberger. “We were a team. But to have zero thrust coming out of those engines was shocking - the silence.”

His wife Lori said they have been opening emotional letters from wellwishers every night ... “It allows both of us to express emotion about it all. We both sit there and cry.”

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