JEFFREY BROWN: One of the themes that comes through is this idea of being prepared, preparation that helped you at that moment. And it comes through in a way that suggests why you don’t really like the idea of being thought of as a hero.
Explain that.
CAPTAIN CHESLEY “SULLY” SULLENBERGER III: Well, I think, like many people who have found themselves in such an extraordinary circumstance, they really do feel like their entire lives has been a preparation for that moment.
And I think that’s especially true in my case, because I remember vividly as a child knowing that I needed to be prepared for whatever might come. And my mother was a first-grade teacher. And, from her, I got a great lifelong gift of learning.
One of the things I teach my children is that I have always invested in myself, and I have never stopped learning, never stopped growing.
Here is your quiz question before you click. How much time–exactly to the second–did he have between the moment the birds hit the engines and when he landed the plane in the Hudson river? Now go with your guess and read or watch it all.
To the second? Man, you are a tough quizmaster.
My guess was just about double the actual.
208 Seconds — I saw the interview. Captain Sullenberger came up with an intuitive combination of character ethics and deontological ethics. Good job! Isn’t it a shame that the Episcopal Church, in its public statements, is still beating the drum for utilitarianism?