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No stop on any promotional circuit is complete without visition The Late Show With David Letterman, and the flight of US Airways flight 1549—which landed rather uneventfully in the calm, cold waters of the Hudson River last month—or at least the PR department of the airline, knew as much. Appearing on tonight's episode of The Late Show, Captain Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles talked almost dismissively of the incident, which was heartening; although the two owned up to being shaken after the initial shock of the crash wore off, they maintained a high level of equanimity about the whole affair, writing it off as a massive confluence of preparation and good fortune. That same even tone fliers are accustomed to hearing over their plane's intercom pervaded the interviews with both airmen, as well as the three flight attendants who comprised the second half of the show's interview section, in which—usually, at least—two celebrities will hawk their latest film, book, or public event. And while the reassuringly even-tempered "Sully" might have made for bad television, his first officer, Skiles, brought much-needed levity to the show. Captain Sullenberger said of Skiles that he had remarked soon after the crash and initial media blitz that "I just want my old life back," which spoke to the two pilots' overall sense that they were just doing their jobs, albeit in spectacular and inimitable fashion.
Skiles came out as the star of the interview, throwing out razor-sharp responses to questions that had even Letterman laughing. When asked if he was tired of the attention and the story, he claimed he was "beyond tired" of telling the story. And despite Sullenberger's calm demeanor, Skiles not only had him laughing along with Letterman but also served as a catalyst for a more relaxed and comedic interview from the captain. Skiles also talked about his job during the emergency, trying to restart the failed engines of the Airbus 320 and was the only one of the two pilots who had ever experienced a failed engine before, although he admitted that he was used to experiencing them failing one at a time. Halfway through the segment, Letterman asked Sully if he thought he could do it again, jokingly offering to pay for the fuel if Sullenberger wanted to give it another shot.
The second segment included Sullenberger and Skiles but featured, prominently, the three flight attendants that were on hand during the troubled light. The Late Show's team showed immense foresight in the seating arrangements of the three, since the funniest of them was seating in prime position next to Dave for the segment. All of the flight attendants have over 25 years of experience flying professionally, and the two seated furthest away had little to tell of the eventful ten-minute flight, except for the appearance of a passenger in his underwear shortly after the water landing, who had prepped himself to swim to shore unneccessarily. The other stewardess, however, had to contend with the passengers in the rear of the plane, among whom was the passenger who initially opened the rear door of the plane, which had to be shut again against the rush of water from the river. She started off talking about the days when passengers in the smoking section of the plane—always at the rear—could be relied upon to be the most boisterous and amiable people on the entire plane, saying that it was no different on flight 1549 that day, and that her passengers, while nervous, conducted themselves beautifully along with the rest of the passengers.
Both segments with the pilots and the flight attendants were greeted with standing ovations from the crowd—as NYC.com witnessed first-hand from the balcony of the historic Ed Sullivan Theater—and rightly so; in a time of great financial turmoil and upheaval, these airborne ferrymen have proven that miracles can happen and that pilots are, without exception, the true, reliable stewards of the sky, and that there's nothing at all to worry about.
Tags:
flight 1549, late show, letterman, skiles, sullenberger
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Posted on 2/10/2009
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