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By Root 778 0

are given a few tasks so that they have something to do. But given the complexity of modern airplanes, they are as integral to a successful flight as anesthesiologists are to a successful operation. pilot and copilot alternate taking the flight controls and managing the flight equipment and checklist responsibilities, and when things go wrong it’s not at all clear which is the harder job. The plane had only three and a half minutes of glide in it. In that time, Skiles needed to make sure he’d done everything possible to relight the engines while also preparing the aircraft for ditching if it wasn’t feasible. But the steps required just to restart one engine typically take more time than that. He had some choices to make.

Plunging out of the sky, he judged that their best chance at survival would come from getting an engine restarted. So he decided to focus almost entirely on the engine failure checklist and running through it as fast as he could. The extent of damage to the engines was unknown, but regaining even partial power would have been sufficient to get the plane to an airport. In the end, Skiles managed to complete a restart attempt on both engines, something investigators later testified to be “very remarkable” in the time frame he had—and something they found difficult to replicate in simulation.

Yet he did not ignore the ditching procedure, either. He did not have time to do everything on the checklist. But he got the distress signals sent, and he made sure the plane was properly configured for an emergency water landing.

“Flaps out?” asked Sullenberger.

“Got flaps out,” responded Skiles.

Sullenberger focused on the glide down to the water. But even in this, he was not on his own. For, as journalist and pilot William Langewiesche noted afterward, the plane’s fly-by-wire control system was designed to assist pilots in accomplishing a perfect glide without demanding unusual skills. It eliminated drift and wobble. It automatically coordinated the rudder with the roll of the wings. It gave Sullenberger a green dot on his screen to target for optimal descent. And it maintained the ideal angle to achieve lift, while preventing the plane from accidentally reaching “radical angles” during flight that would have caused it to lose its gliding ability. The system freed him to focus on other critical tasks, like finding a landing site near ferries in order to give passengers their best chance of rescue and keeping the wings level as the plane hit the water’s surface.

Meanwhile, the three flight attendants in the cabin—Sheila Dail, Donna Dent, and Doreen Welsh—followed through on their protocols for such situations. They had the passengers put their heads down and grab their legs to brace for impact. Upon landing and seeing water through the windows, the flight attendants gave instructions to don life vests. They made sure the doors got open swiftly when the plane came to a halt, that passengers didn’t waste time grabbing for their belongings, or trap themselves by inflating life vests inside the aircraft. Welsh, stationed in the very back, had to wade through ice cold, chest-high water leaking in through the torn fuselage to do her part. Just two of the four exits were safely accessible. Nonetheless, working together they got everyone out of a potentially sinking plane in just three minutes—exactly as designed.

While the evacuation got under way, Sullenberger headed back to check on the passengers and the condition of the plane. Meanwhile, Skiles remained up in the cockpit to run the evacuation checklist—making sure potential fire hazards were dealt with, for instance. Only when it was completed did he emerge. The arriving flotilla of ferries and boats proved more than sufficient to get everyone out of the water. Air in the fuel tanks, which were only partly full, kept the plane stable and afloat. Sullenberger had time for one last check of the plane. He walked the aisle to make sure no one had been forgotten, and then he exited himself.

The entire event had gone shockingly smoothly. After the plane landed, Sullenberger