To give some background into the story, allow me to describe briefly what happened on 15 January 2009. US Airways Flight 1549 which was heading from LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte Douglas International Airport, encountered double engine failure due to a bird strike within minutes of its takeoff. Without any engine power, enough altitude nor any nearby airports for the plane to land safely, the pilot Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) made the unprecedented decision of landing on the Hudson River. Luckily, everyone survived the ordeal and were quickly rescued by the emergency response services amid the bitterly cold winter.
Instead of focusing solely on what happened during those 208 seconds, the meat of the film lies in the subsequent investigation. No doubt the survivors, public and media hailed Sullenberger and Skiles as the heroes, the investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board seemed to be headed into another direction i.e. one which tried to find fault with the pilots' decision rather than mechanical or weather or accident factors. While trying to cope with the media attention, Sullenberger grapples with PTSD and the pressure from the investigation which questioned his judgement and threatens to end his career in an dishonourable manner. Of course, the results of the investigation proved to be in the pilots' favour in the end so it was a huge sigh of relief for the heroes who truly deserved the credit for saving everyone on board including themselves.
Much as most viewers will probably dislike the NTSB for their way of investigating the accident, I think that it is understandable to a certain extent because they have to be fair and not lean towards a certain view before the investigations are concluded. As the media and public generally viewed the pilots in a favourable light, the NTSB's stand of having to prove that the pilots could be potentially at fault for landing the plane on the river rather than seek an airport to land would not go down well with everyone. According to the film's director Clint Eastwood, there was a certain degree of dramatisation in the movie so it could be that the words used by the NTSB investigators were not as nasty nor filled with accusations as shown in the film.
Personally, I felt that the issue was more with their investigation methods and assumptions made rather than the stand they adopted towards the pilots which conveniently took out the surprise factor i.e. the reaction time which the pilots needed and did not take into account that they could not practise like those pilots doing the simulations. As such, when Sullenberger pointed out these fatal errors in the investigation, it felt like justice was done and he managed to save his and his partner's careers with his own efforts. It is easy to assume things when you are not put into such a critical situation and it would appear that the investigators did not consider this when making their conclusions. Without this film, we probably wouldn't have known that there were such loopholes in the investigation.
Besides the investigation, I think the film also had a feel-good and heartwarming aspect to it. Besides Sullenberger's concern for his passengers and crew as seen from his attempt to ensure that everyone was off the plane before he left and how he wanted to know the survivor numbers immediately, the way the emergency response services were pictured here indicated that the achievement did not belong to the pilots only but that these rescuers had also been instrumental in the success. Without them and their quick action, the survivors would have suffered in the icy cold river.
Another part of the film which I thought was handled quite well was the PTSD aspect. Sullenberger, like everyone else, is human after all so it was natural that he would be affected by the close shave ordeal. However, he was not given the time and space to recover psychologically due to the media frenzy, pressure from the investigation, looming threat of his career being ended at this juncture and possible financial hardship brought onto his family. It is easy to forget that heroes are humans too and Tom Hanks managed to show a very raw and real side to the hero which was probably not apparent in media reports.
Tom Hanks did a fantastic job in playing Sullenberger. There was hardly anything dramatic in his actions and mannerisms just like Sullenberger who thought that he was just performing his duty and wasn't enjoying the hero treatment. As such, it didn't feel like Hanks had to exert himself too much when playing this role. However, beneath that facade of calmness, he still managed to show the underlying worries and insecurities Sullenberger had when he started to doubt himself. When faced with those accusations from the NTSB suggesting that he was wrong, he tried to seek assurance but found that even if people agreed with him, he still wasn't 100 percent convinced. When self-doubt started to creep in, he could no longer maintain his confidence as shown by his confession to his wife that there might be a possibility that the investigation might not turn out well for him. He really projected the dilemma of believing in oneself and being cornered by those who didn't in a convincing manner. I also liked his chemistry with Eckhart and how both men did their best in the face of adversity, be it in the sky and on the ground i.e. against the investigation authorities.
In conclusion, this film is definitely worth watching for its succinct take on the aftermath of the Hudson River miracle, great acting from Tom Hanks in particular and the ending brimming with positiveness and warmth. Be sure to stay till the credits roll because you will see footage of Sullenberger and Skiles with the survivors during their gathering and hear their thoughts about this incident and how it has changed their lives.
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