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If you missed the CBS 60 Minutes interview with USAirways pilot Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, then take a few moments to look it over and listen to his words. Applying the principles of Crew Resource Management, years of dedicated training, insights from airline industry near miss reports and crash incidents case studies, and the understanding of safety, preparedness and situational awareness and human performance error prevention and recovery prepared Captain Sullenberger for the events that unfolded that day aboard US Airways Flight 1549.

The applications to the Fire Service are pronounced; Crew Resource Management (CRM), Near Miss Reporting, NIOSH Case Studies, Everyone Goes Home, Resources and Lessons Learned, training, preparedness, skills development, insights, and being hightly competent.

The CBS 60 miniutes web page describes when US Airways flight 1549 crash-landed into New York's Hudson River, what seemed destined to be a tragedy became an extraordinary tale of success and survival. By the time all 155 people were pulled from the icy waters by a flotilla of rescue boats, a story began to emerge of a highly trained pro with a cool demeanor who had deftly guided his doomed aircraft to safety. The following is an excerpt from CBS 60 minutes;
"It was the worst sickening pit of your stomach, falling through the floor feeling I've ever felt in my life. I knew immediately it was very bad," Sullenberger told correspondent Katie Couric. "My initial reaction was one of disbelief. 'I can't belief this is happening. This doesn't happen to me,'" he remembered. Asked what he meant by that, Sullenberger said, "I meant that I had this expectation that my career would be one in which I didn't crash an airplane."

He said he realized right away that the engines were failing. "It was obvious to me from the moment that we lost the thrust that this was a critical situation. Losing thrust on both engines, at a low speed, at a low altitude, over one of the most densely populated areas on the planet. Yes, I knew it was a very challenging situation." ( See CBS 60 Minutes web page)

Asked what was going through his head, Sullenberger told Couric, "I knew immediately that this, unlike every other flight I'd had for 42 years, was probably not going to end with the airplane undamaged on the runway."

The right pilot at the right time, the USAF veteran nicknamed Sully executed a skillful landing, and is hailed worldwide as a hero. He has forty years of flight experience and is the CEO of an aviation safety consulting firm, Safety Reliability Methods, Inc. (SRM).The hero of Flight 1549, pilot Chesley B. Sullenberger III, walked the aisle of the downed US Airways jet twice looking for passengers before exiting the plane he safely ditched in the Hudson River, saving the lives of more than 150 people onboard. Reference to: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/30/60minutes/main4764852.shtml

CBS News went on to state that in his words, his lifetime of preparation and training came together that fateful afternoon, and culminated in an averted tragedy of immense proportions.

Be that highly trained professional...be all that you can be....be prepared for the unexpected, because there is never, ever anything routine about what we do......the difference you may be called to make, may have an affect on so many.......think about it

http://www.iafc.org/associations/4685/files/pubs_CRMmanual.pdf
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/30/60minutes/main4764852.shtml
http://www.everyonegoeshome.com/
http://www.cdc.gov/NIOSH/FIRE/
http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2009/01/16/in_depth_us/interactiveh...
www.firefighternearmiss.com/