September 9, 2016
Sully (also known as Sully: Miracle on the Hudson) is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Todd Komarnicki, based on the 2009 autobiography Highest Duty by Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and Jeffrey Zaslow. Tom Hanks stars as Sullenberger, with Aaron Eckhart as Jeffrey Skiles, and co-stars Laura Linney, Anna Gunn, Autumn Reeser, Holt McCallany, and Jamey Sheridan. The film follows Sullenberger's 2009 emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River, in which all 155 passengers and crew survived, and the subsequent publicity and investigation.
Sully premiered at the 43rd Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2016, and was released in the United States by Warner Bros. on September 9, 2016, in conventional and IMAX theaters. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed over $240 million worldwide, but created controversy with its fictionalized portrayal of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as "prosecutorial and closed-minded." The American Film Institute and National Board of Review both selected it as one of their ten best films of 2016, and it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing at the 89th Academy Awards.
Storyline
On January 15, 2009, Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles take off in US Airways Flight 1549 from LaGuardia Airport. During climbout, the Airbus A320 strikes a flock of birds, damaging both engines. Without much time to think, they judge themselves as unable to reach nearby airports (Teterboro Airport being the closest), and Sully ditches the aircraft on the Hudson River. Though with mild injuries, all 155 crew and passengers evacuate successfully. Sully is heralded by the public and media for his unprecedented feat of aviation skill, but experiences aftereffects, and finds himself unable to escape the attention of the press, which is targeting not only him but also his family.
Still in New York City for investigation reasons, Sully learns that preliminary data from ACARS suggest that the left engine was still running at idle power. Theoretically, it still had enough power to land the plane at either LaGuardia or Teterboro. Furthermore, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) claims that several confidential computerized simulations show similar results. Sully and Jeff firmly insist otherwise, and this opposition gradually intensifies the relationship between both parties.
The NTSB suspects it may be a case of pilot error, which would likely destroy Sully's reputation and career. He arranges to have the simulations rerun with live pilots, then relayed to the public. They result in successful landings. Sully debates that the simulations are unrealistic because they do not take human factors into account, such as the element of surprise, the time required for analysis and decision-making, and the significantly higher stakes he and Jeff faced; the simulation pilots knew in advance of the situation that they would face and of the suggested emergency action, were able to practice the scenario several times (successfully completing the simulation only after 17 previous failed attempts), had no passengers to think about, and were in no danger themselves. The NTSB reluctantly accepts his criticism, and the simulations are rerun with a 35-second pause before the plane is diverted. The LaGuardia rerun ends with the plane crash-landing short of the runway, and that to Teterboro with a crash into buildings before it can reach the airport.
After listening to the CVR recorder of the real life incident, NTSB announces that analysis of the port engine, now recovered from the river, confirms Sully's account that it had indeed been seriously damaged by the bird strike, and concludes that Sully had acted correctly in the event. Sully credits everyone on board, the air traffic controllers, the ferry crews, and the emergency response teams for the success. Jeff jokes that he would have ditched the plane in July if he could do it again.