Mum's Monday: Sully – Miracle on the Hudson

155 is just a number; 155 people can be just a crowd of people on the street that pass un-noticed; but when you watch this film, 155 is the miracle number we want to hear.

This film tells the story of what happened on January 15^th 2009, when a plane takes off over New York and both engines are fatally damaged by a bird strike. The pilot, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger (Played by Tom Hanks), makes the decision to land the plane on the Hudson river.

The film starts after the event in an inquiry situation, in an office. This is a bit of a slow start to what quickly becomes a fast-paced telling of the story. This film is the closest representation of actual events I have ever seen on the big screen. The incident is a simple one and has a happy ending, so no restrictions and no artistic licencing needed. Even though it’s told mainly from Sully’s perspective, it does briefly allow you to see the events from the passenger’s, the crew, the air traffic controller, and every day people going about their daily lives. A passenger holding a mother’s baby so she could better brace for impact, passengers jumping into the Hudson river to try and swim to shore and even showing passengers struggling up the rescue ladders on the ferries that went to rescue the people from the plane, including the exchanges between the cockpit and air traffic control during and after when he was sitting in a room, upset and alone, believing the plane was lost, but then was told to come and watch the news to see what had actually happened. 

Tom Hanks plays the part of Sully exceptionally well, he captures the mood and the emotion, the feeling that he has just saved these people but has to live with the fact of asking himself, could he have made it back to an airport? The inquiry scenes were extraordinarily made and emotional. You go from feeling anger because the panel forgot that there were humans on board to relief when they realise that you cannot 1) Practice and take numerous times to land a plane after a bird strike with both engines lost, and 2) You have to allow for reaction time. The inquiry soon realises: one plane. One time. One chance.

This film is a very hard hitting but is worth watching. Even though you know what happens, you are still on the edge of your seat. We don’t see much of the passenger’s backstories, but we don’t necessarily need to see their stories, because it isn’t that type of film. All we need to know is 155 people is 155 living and breathing people; full stop.