"Sully" Phoned Pittsburgh After Hudson River Crash

http://kdka.com/local/US.Airways.Pilot.2.912005.html

Pilots Union Rallied To Aid Crew
RELATED STORY: Pilots Union: "Let's Spread The Credit"
By Ken Rice

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― US Airways Flight 1549 Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the last one off his slowly sinking ship, had just come ashore. He'd made certain all in his care were safe and accounted for. He'd called his wife to assure her he was okay. But the conversation was brief because he and co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles had another call to make.

At the same time, in his kitchen in Mt. Lebanon, a veteran US Airways pilot named Mark King was riveted to the TV coverage from New York. As a top official in the US Airways pilots union, King was filled with pride by his colleagues' heroic actions. And then the phone rang.


A heavy lift crane removes US Airways flight 1549 from its makeshift mooring along a seawall in lower Manhattan Jan. 17, 2009, in New York City.
Edouard H.R.Gluck/Getty Images


"He said, 'this is Sully' and he gave his full name," said King. "I didn't know it was the captain initially, and he started providing me information as he stood there with First Officer Skiles."

Captain Sullenberger, still soaked to the waist, had followed protocol and dialed the pilots union's incident hotline. And King, the union's treasurer, was the first available officer. The call came to him.

"He immediately went into a professional mode where he relayed to me the information that his union needed to have, such as personal data, the status of the crew, where the crew was going. He even informed me that he had the forethought to take the airplane logbook with him," said King.

And remarkably, King says, the caller gave no hint that anything dramatic had just happened.

FULL story at link.

cool and professional, following the rules and getting the job done--that job being to make sure all in his care are safe.

In some ways, though, Obama's job is a tad tougher. He's got 350 million passengers and he has to find a way of starting a few thousand stalled engines before the plane of State goes in and under.