STACK #146 Dec 2016

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I f Hollywood has become and shiny suits, then Clint Eastwood has been fascinated with heroes for more than half a century, be it the real-life variety such as Nelson Mandela obsessed with superheroes with all their super powers

sneaking into the cargo hold of a military plane, which crashed into the Pacific. The veteran filmmaker is sparing in his use of the title ‘hero’. “We have this politically correct thing now where everybody has to win a prize; all the little boys in the class have to go home with a first place trophy,” he says. “So the use of the word ‘hero’ is a little bit overdone. But I don’t think so in

( Invictus ), Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle ( American Sniper ), or those down and dirty anti- heroes of his imagination, vigilantes like Dirty Harry and a motley collection of lawmen, cowboys and outlaws. Now he takes on Sully , aka Chesley Sullenberger (played by Tom Hanks), the real-life US Airways pilot who stunned the world in 2009 when he dramatically landed his plane on the Hudson River after both engines were disabled by a bird strike. Saving all on board, Sully was lauded a hero, only to have his heroism questioned days later by over-zealous aviation authorities in search of a scapegoat. Eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, Sully resumed his rightful place in the spotlight as a true American hero, penning his memoir Highest Duty . The event received so much media attention, Eastwood, like most of us, thought he knew the entire story. “This guy Sullenberger did a fantastic job on landing the plane, all 155 lived, so where’s the conflict, I thought,” recalls Eastwood,

Tom Hanks and Clint Eastwood

Sully’s case.” A licensed helicopter pilot and having flown for more than 30 years, Eastwood has a particular appreciation of Sully’s skills. “Aviation is very exacting. Its not like when we get in our car, we just jump in. We don’t care if the wheel is half off as long as we get there, by the skin of the teeth,” he explains. “But in aviation, you just don’t do that. You need to be an exacting person; somebody who really knows the detail and lives by the rules, and Sully is that kind of guy. He lived by the rules and he was able to make the decision to land in the Hudson because he’d been through training, even if he

The use of the word 'hero' is a little bit overdone. But I don't think so in Sully's case

86, when STACK meets with him in Los Angeles. “And then I realised there was a lot that happened that day and the days after – his periods of self doubt inspired by the NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] and having to prove his decisions, which came out to be the right decisions, so then it became very dramatic. Sometimes you just have to look deeper than your first thoughts, which were ‘this was a wonderful event, but who wants to see a whole movie about it?’” Eastwood had survived his own ocean crash when he was 21 years old, after

never imagined himself doing that before. But all of a sudden you have to think and make a lot of things happen in very few seconds, and that’s what the story is about.”

• Sully is out on Dec 14

SOME THINGS ABOUT SULLY...

• Sully’s lifelong passion for flying was sparked at five years old when he witnessed the awe-inspiring sight of jets taking off from the now-defunct Perrin Air Force Base near his childhood home in Denison, Texas. A lifetime later, he would mentor kids who share his love for aviation as co-chair of the EAA Young Eagles program.

• After taking a much-needed break from the public eye, Sully celebrated his return to commercial flying by reteaming with co-pilot Jeff Skiles to honour the partnership that one expert described as “a magnificent piece of aviation professionalism.” He would fly with Skiles one last time a little over a year following the famous incident, when the two partnered on Sully’s final retirement flight in 2010.

• Following his official retirement from commercial piloting on March 3, 2010, Sully founded the safety, performance and reliability consulting

• All these years later, Sully’s passion for flying has never waned. “It’s something that has given my life purpose and meaning, and great satisfaction,” he says. –º“It’s been a lot of fun becoming particularly good at something that’s difficult to do well.”

company Safety Reliability Methods Inc. He now extends his expertise beyond the aviation industry to apply his passion, experience and expertise to a variety of business environments. He has become an in-demand lecturer, speaking at diverse institutions all over the world on safety, crisis management, leadership and living a life of integrity.

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