Multiple airports, runways, two successful landings. We are simply mimicking what the computer already told us.
A lot of toes were stepped on in order to set this up for today. And frankly, I really don't know what you gentlemen plan to gain by it.
Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger: Can we get serious now?
Captain?
Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger: We've all heard about the computer simulations, and now we are watching actual sims. But I can't quite believe you have still not taken into account the human factor.
Human piloted simulations showed you could make it back to the airport.
Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger: No, they don't. These pilots were not behaving like human beings, like people who are experiencing this for the first time.
Well they may not be reacting like you did.
Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger: Immediately after the bird strike, they are turning back for the airport, just as in the computer sims, correct?
That is correct.
Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger: They obviously knew the turn, and exactly what heading to fly. They did not run a check. They did not switch on the APU.
They had all the same parameters that you faced.
Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger: No one warned us. No one said "You are going to lose both engines at a lower altitude than any jet in history. But be cool. Just make a left turn for LaGuardia, like you're going back to pick up the milk." This was dual engine loss at 2,800 feet, followed by an immediate water landing, with 155 souls on board. No one has ever trained for an incident like that. No one. Now, the Teterboro landing, with its unrealistic bank angle - we were not the Thunderbirds up there. I'd like to know how many times the pilot practiced that maneuver before he actually pulled it off? I'm not questioning the pilots. They're good pilots. But they've clearly been instructed to head for the airport immediately after the bird strike. You've allowed no time for analysis or decision-making. In these simulations, you've taken all of the humanity out of the cockpit. How much time did the pilots spend planning for this event? For these simulations? You are looking for human error. Then make it human.
