Third Entry (Recount)

List the 10 most important things about the text you are reading.

Regarding the 10 most important things happening in this story, I’m going to quote in short a certain number of passages from the book:

·       There are three general rules about any aircraft emergency. We learn them in our earliest lessons as pilots.

Maintain aircraft control.

Always make sure someone is flying the airplane, and is focused on maintaining the best flight path.

Analyze the situation and take proper action.

Through our training, we know the actions we should consider depend upon what systems have failed and how much time and fuel we have to deal with the situation.

Land as soon as conditions permit.

This means we have to factor in weather and runway conditions, the wind, the length and width of the runway, the emergency and rescue equipment available at the particular airport where a landing might be attempted, and all sorts of other factors. It is important to land quickly but with due consideration. (pages 212-213)

·       I always keep in mind a remark made by the fire chief at Sioux City Airport: “Either you manage the situation, or the situation will manage you” (page 185)

·       Why did pilots wait too long before ejecting from planes that were about to crash? Why did they spend extra seconds trying to fix the unfixable? The answer is that many doomed pilots feared retribution if they lost multimillion- dollar jet. And so they remained determined to try to save the airplane, often with disastrous results. (page 229)

·       It was a pretty sobering moment for a sixteen-year-old, and it made quite an impression on me. … One simple mistake could mean death. (page 11)

·       We had lost both engines. It was a dire situation, but there were lessons people had instilled in me that served me well. (page 15)

·       When there are children who eagerly want a look inside “my office” at the front of the plane, their enthusiasm is contagious. It’s so gratifying to see their excitement about something I care deeply about. (page 18)

·       But even when I’m not trying, I can tell when the plan is climbing or descending, or when the pilots are changing the flap setting or the engine thrust. For pilots, that general awareness comes with the territory.
(page 24)

·       I know many people who have better personalities than I do, but I am doing the best I can. (page 64)

·       I know I can be exasperating to Lorrie. “Sully,” she has said more than once, “life is not a checklist!”I understand her frustration, but I don’t see myself that way. I’m organized. I’m not a robot. (page 75)

·       As women, we have to become comfortable with our bodies. That’s crucial. A woman who isn’t comfortable will turn off the lights at night and say to her husband, ‘Please don’t touch me.’ When a woman is happy in her own skin, she’s more willing to let her partner be close. (page 173)

(520 words)

Second Entry (Empathy)

Write about something happening in the book that you relate to? How did you react?

For me it’s clear that I identify most with the brave main character, because first I’d like to become a jet pilot myself, and second because I admire very much his reaction to prevent a catastrophe that would probably have caused the death of 155 passengers and crew.

In a case of real emergency, you should think first of saving your own life and forget about how valuable the aircraft is.

[I always keep in mind a remark made by the fire chief at Sioux City Airport: “Either you manage the situation, or the situation will manage you.”] (page 185)

When I read this, I think of what I always say to myself:

“If you don’t take a decision yourself, somebody else will do it for you."
As a pilot, you can hardly afford to make a mistake, especially if you are sitting at the control wheel of the aircraft.

Only if you have the situation under control are you able to carry out precisely the next steps. Of course, the pilots have a checklist to make sure that nothing gets forgotten, but if you can’t concentrate, it doesn't work either.

(213 words)

First Entry (Reflection)

Write down your first impression of the book or play. Copy whole passages that are difficult or that you really like a lot.

My first impressions of the book are very positive. Te story is written in an interesting and thrilling way, and the language the author uses is quite easy to understand. Apart from a factual report of what happened on 15 January 2009, it’s also autobiographic, which means that we get to know a lot about the personal background of the writer. As a passage I really like a lot, I take the section on page 2, which describes how the author felt during his first solo flight. I can well identify with him because I’m also a licensed private pilot and I remember in an unforgettable way my feelings when I made my first solo flight on a Grob(G115B) plane in 2008.

Grob(G115B)

By the way, I warmly recommend this book to all those who are interested to know more in detail how it came to that heroic landing on the Hudson River.

(179 words)