Was ‘Sully’ only movie magic? Pilot part of NTSB investigation discusses ‘Miracle on the Hudson’

NORTH CAROLINA (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Have you seen the movie, “Sully”? Released back in 2016, it is fetching renewed interest.

All thanks to the 15-year anniversary of the “Miracle on the Hudson.”

This week in 2009, millions watched as rescue efforts of the downed plane played out on live TV.

U.S. Airways Flight 1549 took off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport bound for Charlotte, hit a flock of birds, lost power, and landed in the Hudson River. The against-all-odds survival story would eventually land on the silver screen.

But was the movie’s portrayal accurate?  

“They played up the hero and the villain twist. It’s what sells. It’s what people want to see, makes interesting cinema,” explains Capt. Larry Rooney, sharing his impression of “Sully.” An airline pilot in real life who was portrayed by an actor in the movie, Rooney has a unique behind-the-scenes perspective.

Monday marks 15 years since successful Miracle on the Hudson landing

Directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Tom Hanks, “Sully” is based on Capt. C.B. Sully Sullenberger’s autobiography.

The movie drew rave reviews for the heroic acts of the flight crew, but outrage from some movie-goers who were upset by the way the National Transportation Safety Board appeared to come after Sully. In the true story turned cinema, the agency was portrayed as hypercritical of the captain’s decision to land in the river.

Never mind it was hailed as the most successful ditching in aviation history with no loss of life, investigators seemed unduly nit-picking. Was this the way the investigation played out in real life — or was it a product of Eastwood’s movie magic?

“He’s a fantastic movie director, he knows how to tell a story, but a Hollywood movie and the reality are two separate things,” Rooney discloses.

A veteran professional pilot and safety expert, Rooney was selected to serve on the NTSB investigation team, dissecting what led to the famed water landing.

“We were trying to find out everything that could have been related to the accident,” he said. “That’s part of what the NTSB does.”

In real life, Rooney flew the accident scenario in the flight simulator to determine if other options may have worked, like landing at the nearest airport. He says, that when all was said and done, investigators concluded the crew made the logical best choice by ditching in the river.

Get to know the caretakers of the Sully Aviation Museum aircraft

Rooney says the investigation process is boring by design. Sensationalizing it in the movie jazzed it up. The good guy hero captain versus the bad guy investigation team equals compelling entertainment. It sells tickets. Moviegoers can rest assured the reality of the investigation, while thorough, was not an outright attack on Captain Sully’s pilot decision-making.

“Investigators agreed on that day, you could not have had a more experienced, more capable flight crew,” Rooney reveals.

“You think about what they were up against. Not only an airplane over the most populated urban area of the U.S., incapable of sustained powered flight, landed in water with temps in the 40s, with hypothermia measured in minutes.

“Truly a miracle. Not so much the landing but everything else that went with it. I mean, you would have thought somebody would have drowned or died of hypothermia. There was a woman in a wheelchair on the flight. A child held in a mother’s lap. It’s a human interest story beyond an accident story.”

Does Rooney believe in fate?

“I do believe in fate, but also, I more believe in exhaustive extensive flight training,” Rooney said. “As pilots, we are more all about preparing for the worst and hoping we never run into that.”

“The combined talents of a coordinated team of well-trained, highly professional, and experienced flight crew (with maybe a little miracle thrown in for good measure) were the recipe for success 15 years ago, yesterday.”

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