All Hail The Aero-Heroes of 2009!

Final Compilations by ANN Editor-In-Chief/Trouble-Maker, Jim Campbell

It is both the most "fun," and most difficult, task facing the ANN staff at the end of every year -- determining who, or what, did the most to promote the cause of aviation in the past 365 days... while also chastising those people or entities that did all they could to undermine the many successes the aviation/aerospace community has managed to accomplish.
 
Thankfully, 2009 was a year in which we saw the best and brightest among us step forward and work tirelessly on behalf of us all. No doubt about it... the challenges we faced in 2009 were numerous, and ongoing... so was the quality of expertise and passion brought to our defense by those who heroically demonstrated to the world the very best side of aviation... via their deeds, words and actions.
 
It is ANN's honor to recognize Ten persons/organizations or groups that qualify as our Aero-Heroes for 2009... in something of an informal order, starting from the 10th to the 1st. Let us know what you think of our selections... whom YOU would have liked be included or omitted from such a list. In the meantime, we thank the folks who made this year's list. Thank you, folks... we really needed you this year, and you didn't let us down.

ANN will list our Top Ten choices over the next few day's, but in order to kick off the New Year right, let's enjoy another selection from our Heroes List for 2009...

Aero-Heroes #3: Captain Sully and His Crew

Wow. Just as it seemed that aviation was never going to pull itself out from under the dark cloud created by so many ponderous factors, we witnessed the enormity of the "Miracle on the Hudson." While Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger performed heroically in the ditching of his Airbus into the Hudson River, pilots like you and I know that there was nothing innately 'heroic' about it... he was doing his job, he was doing it competently, and he and his crew pulled off a magnificent piece of airmanship under extraordinary odds. He didn't have time to be heroic... he flew his aircraft to the best of his ability to the best possible conclusion under great pressure and tough circumstances.

Photo By Gregory Lam

Let's be realistic, though, had this massive propulsion failure occurred in bad weather, reduced visibility, off another runway that didn't present the option of a waterway to land upon within gliding distance of the collision point, or other acts of the Almighty; even the extraordinary airmanship of Sully and his crew may have come to naught. It's good to be lucky. And it's lucky to be good. And it's particularly beneficial when you leverage both to your best ability and are unwilling to quit when fate hands you a big bag of crap. Sully survived because Sully wouldn't quit.

Captain Chesley Sullenberger

And so the nation celebrated the heroics of Jeffrey Skiles, Chesley Sullenberger, and a magnificent cabin crew that worked together as a professional team to save their passengers and themselves... and thereafter stepped into aviation history. But once again, while there are heroic aspects of what they did, I doubt that they consider it all that heroic, and simply realize that circumstances demanded their "A" game -- and they delivered. Pilots all over the world know what I'm talking about -- many of us have had those occasional moments when circumstances mount up and present us with urgent criticalities that can either kill us in a few moments, or become a really good war story a few hours hence -- dependant totally on how we address the circumstances before us. While I'm proud to count Sullenberger and Skiles as one of our own, my real pride in them both is not just the fact that they did their jobs and did it well, but the uncommon good graces that they displayed every day thereafter. They made us ever prouder to be aviators.

Sully and his crew presented a professional, competent, and calm attitude to the world... after their concerns for their passengers were mollified with the assurance that all were well, they each honored the other members of their team by crediting each other (rather than themselves) as the answer to a sticky set of problems that could have gone horribly awry. In the year since the Hudson ditching, these men and women have become positive spokespersons for the cool competence that is displayed DAILY by most every aviation professional. In expressing their gratitude to their fellow fliers, through service to the industry they work within, they continue to offer up little bits of heroic interaction that denote their true character. Sullenberger became a passionate spokesman for the needs of an airline industry, and the true working professionals that keep it in the air -- by being honest about the foes we face, the hazards we endure, and the dark future that this industry faces unless relevant and expertly crafted guidance is provided to set us on a more progressive and constructive path. They didn't mince words, they didn't parrot the corporate line, they told the truth, and they told it well. Sullenberger and Skiles have become aviation figureheads since then, and instead of sitting back and enjoying the ego trip, they've served our industry through their efforts on a number of fronts such as EAA's Young Eagles program and so many others.

FO Jeffrey Skiles

Yes, taken in total, this is heroism -- and it's the loftier mode of heroism that all aviators should emulate and be ready to display when circumstances warrant. At a time when aviation seems capable of little more than licking its wounds, Captain Sully and his crew prove how much we have to be proud of, and how much we have to measure up to. Thank God for that.

FMI: Comments/Criticism????