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Sully Admits to Inner "Turmoil" During Flight 1549
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 3, 2009
Modified Feb 3, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 3, 2009
Modified Feb 3, 2009
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While US Airways Flight 1549 pilot Chesley Sullenberger and the crew will be speaking at length on 60 Minutes next Sunday, the admired pilot did speak briefly to ESPN's Rick Reilly during the Super Bowl festivities. Reilly wrote: "I had to ask him, What was that like when you realized both engines were out? He thought about it for awhile and then said, slowly and deliberately, 'Shocking. It was very quiet as we worked, my co-pilot and I. We were a team. But to have zero thrust coming out of those engines was shocking - the silence.' How were you feeling inside? I asked. 'Calm on the outside, turmoil inside.' He kept calling the whole thing 'surreal.'" Sullenberger also said he and his wife had been opening letters every night, "It allows both of us to express emotion about it all. We both sit there and cry."
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chesley sullenberger
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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