SULLY PORTRAYS A “DUKE” OF NEW YORK
Chesley Sullenberger (played by Tom Hanks), nicknamed Sully, is the pilot who landed a commercial airplane on the Hudson River in January 2009 after both engines failed to operate due to a sudden influx of birds. As expected, the film reenacts the landing and rescue of all passengers on board, most of whom stood on the wings at a time when the river was 36˚ and wind chill outside was -5˚. But the angle played up by director Clint Eastwood is the investigation of the incident by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which tries to prove that he could have landed at La Guardia Airport instead. Sully is grilled in private, and in a public hearing the NTSB tries to prove its bias with simulations, and they admit that more than 20 simulations were attempted and filmed. However, since several later simulations are played on the screen in the public hearing, the modest Sullenberger surmises that the pilots got better from the first to the last simulation, so he asks NTSB to play the first, which proves that an attempt to fly to La Guardia would result in a crash resembling 9/11. What makes Eastwood’s day, clearly wearing his political persuasion on his sleeve, is to expose government mendacity. NTSB, however, disputes such an interpretation as entirely incorrect. MH