The Miracle as a Metaphor: What We Can Really Learn From Flight 1549

"Pilot Hailed for 'Hudson Miracle,'" said the BBC.

"Miracle on the Hudson," declared both MSNBC and the New York Daily News.

A dear and very spiritual friend said to me yesterday, "The Hudson River crash is a sign." I know she didn't mean we should start flying in wetsuits. What she meant is that tale of heroism, courage, and professionalism is a metaphor for hope, a sign that the American dream works when we have the right leader, the right team spirit and right cooperation among people.

Let's examine the evidence. Moments after a rare aviation phenomenon -- a "double strike" of birds against the plane -- U.S. Airways flight 1549 lost engine power but remained flyable, giving the pilot time to assess the situation. In many bird strikes, let alone a double one, the result is catastrophic, but flight 1549 soared on.

The pilot then landed the plane in the Hudson River, a feat the Wall Street Journal proclaimed as "one of the rarest and most technically challenging feats in commercial aviation." Not only did everyone aboard survive the impact, which some witnesses likened to that of a rear-end collision in an automobile, but the plane stayed afloat just long enough for everyone to be rescued. In a press conference hours after the accident, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that most passengers never even touched the 36-degree water, which on that 20-degree afternoon could have caused hypothermia in less than eight minutes. The hero of the day, Capt. Chesley Sullenberger III, masterfully landed his plane and, putting his passengers first, walked through the cabin twice to help everyone out before he himself evacuated the sinking plane.

There were so many chances for this event to go horribly wrong, but thanks to the skill of the pilot, the calmness of the passengers, and the dedication of the rescue teams, the story had a joyous ending, one that has people in awed elation around the country.

How auspicious that it should occur on the eve of our new president taking office. It's as if the country has donned a new spirit. "This is the best day ever!" said one of the survivors, as she was carted away in the back of an ambulance. It wasn't so long ago that that very same woman might have been asking a watching audience if anyone knew a good lawyer.

The signs are there: this is our future, if only we choose to follow the example set by Capt. Sullenberger, his crew, and the other heroes of flight 1549. The reason that every single one of the 155 passengers and crew survived is because of the work of individuals -- not some miracle or stroke of luck. From the skilled pilot right down to the divers still looking for the lost engines, everyone worked as a team. Instead of bemoaning their fate, they acted and, in the case of the pilot and rescue teams, had prepared their whole careers for such a moment. And let's not forget another great "pilot," Mayor Bloomberg; under his direction, New York City knows how to handle an emergency.

Times are tough. Our economy has taken a triple bird strike and we've lost all engines and a wing. We are engaged in two wars, our unemployment rate is ratcheting up... shall I continue? But we can land this plane. We will have cuts and bruises to show for our efforts -- there's no way to avoid that -- but we will survive if we follow our new leader, if we work collectively for the common good and if we realize that Captain Sullenberger and his crew have shown us how the American people can survive a crash.

 

 

Follow Lynda Resnick on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lyndaresnick

Comments

[delaflowers]

Lynda, GREAT blog - I agree with you
I was recently at an All Company Meeting and the "Team Leader" NOT the CEO (he says we are all on the same team cause we are all working for the same goals) shared a quote with us : "Tough Times Dont Last , TOUGH PEOPLE DO!" and I think that quote and your blog tie it together quite well!
Thanks,

[Fudgefase]

Metaphor:
The right man in the driving seat exactly when he was needed. Here's hoping that's right.

[paragrafH]

You mentioned "crew" collectively, but in the same way nurses are the unsung heroes of hospitals, the flight attendants had to be instrumental in the success of the (reportedly) more or less orderly evacuation. Someone told me an ABC anchor took time to honor them, reminding people that they should think about them the next time an attendant forgets to pass them the peanuts. The core of their training and, in fact, their job is passenger safety. One of the discussions talked about the psychology of crises -- that if there's a confident leader, people will follow -- which is what apparently happened. Each attendant was a leader -- and a hero.

[Dukedraven]

I think it's a bonafide miracle. Everyone walked from the crash for a reason, mainly because it wasn't their time to go yet and they still have some business down here to take care of. That's what I gathered from it. I've often heard it said that each of us is here, at this important time, for a reason. Only the bravest souls are here now and heaven is watching in wonder.

[RudyV]

And that time is utterly dependent on the whims of a diety who enjoys jamming waterfowl into aircraft engines.

[patrickhenrypress]

That might be Pan. I suspected he might be involved in this...

...I must get word to Zeus!

[jan4insight]

America at her best!

[todgerman]

Perhaps this miracle happened because 100% of the heroes, from flight attendants to pilots, from air traffic controllers to tugboat captain and crew were union members, trained to do their job.

[macweenie]

Points for using the two most overused words in the English language in a single sentence - heroes and miracle.

[paragrafH]

A) Don't begrudge these heroes (and survivors) their miracle, Grinch!

B) He's absolutely right about union safety training, including "Sully." Considering the current union-busing climate, this can't be stressed enough!

[FZliveson]

I'm all for omens and manifestation of what we want, but let's get real here.
A plane took off, hit some birds and the pilot did his job. The passengers stood on the wings with
their legs in cold water for about an hour and then they were safe. Scary indeed but not heroic.
The metaphor..­..the nation had Bush as a president for 8 years, got brutally abused by his
friends and cronies and now we must rise to the occasion and rebuild the nation.
That, Ms. Resnick is light years away from the plane crash.
If Captain Sully can bring his leadership abilities to the forefront and be the influence on the
nation that Joe the Plumber could not be...we will have something WONDERFUL.

[KristaJulieva]

"Scary indeed but not heroic?" It is true that everyone was doing their jobs and what we expect people should do in a crisis, but you fail to appreciate how unbelievable it was that every person involved was able to perform perfectly--almost literally perfectly. If any of the crew, passengers, ferry boat operators, etc. had made a single, simple human error there would have been a worse outcome, and very possibly a horrible outcome. It really was miraculous, whether you think it was a human-made miracle or a miracle of God working through human beings.

[macweenie]

If that was a miracle then every day we see such miracles like people who avoid hitting a pedestrian with their car. I guess I am the miracle man of Michigan since I have avoided filing for bankruptcy in this lousy economy - don't have a job but that's just a miracle waiting to happen. The term "miracle" needs to be held in reserve and trotted out ONLY for the most unexplainable, most unfathomable of situations and events.

If a man shoots up a school but nobody is harmed because the bullets turn inexplicably into bananas then THAT is a miracle. This was the calm, cool, competent, nay exemplary, execution of the duties of all involved. I would not necessarily fault you for calling the pilot a hero, but even that dilutes the impact of the word. He did his job and even though he did it in an spectacular way he was perfectly equipped to do just that - he had the knowledge and the experience, he knew how to fly the plane, he was charged with the safety of the passengers, and in the end it was in his own best interest to make the safest landing possible. I believe that heroes are people who place themselves in harms way to save others when they don't have to. A hero leaps on a grenade to save the rest of the soldiers in his foxhole or runs into a burning building to save an occupant before the firefighters get

[RudyV]

Should we thank Him for rescuing the passengers or for tossing the waterfowl at the plane in the first place?

[oldgeek1]

I am a frequent flyer. What I have learned is to truly keep my I-Pod off until we have reached altitude, yes I have ignored that advice for years.

I know how to fasten a seat belt, no where the life preservers are, the oxygen masks and the exists. What I will never do again is block out my ability to hear the crew until we are safely airborne.

The Flight crew, all of them deserve a huge amount of thanks from those who walked away to enjoy the rest of their lives

[AverageJane2]

Bravo. I too saw it as a metaphor of hope. Thanks for writing this.

[lisa12345]

I think Resnick is encouraging us to find meaning in events again. I am not one to say it is a miracle, but it is meaningful. Any action taken up by people who work as a team and succeed is a reminder that we can accomplish things if we work together. We have to cooperate, as a country.

[topkatnc]

Yeah, that would be great, but how do we get the people who govern our country to think the same way ?

[claypigeonb]

Synchronicity. The shadow of the numinous. Remember Columbia, February 1, 2003, the Chinese New Year?

[patrickhenrypress]

Synchronicity. A song by the Police and a whim of Carl Jung. Incredibly, today is Maintenance Day in the U.S., but Revolution Day in Tunisia. And all of this during Lima Foundation Week in Peru. It so boggles the mind...

[sylblackstone]

Yes, I do think it's a metaphor and that's why it's so emotionally charged for so many people, as well as being an incredible story in the history of aviation. That a United States Airways plane could take a dive, crash and everyone still survive does resonate with the image of the United States, the country, taking a dive, being in catastropic trouble and yet through competence, teamwork and the will to stay alive and help others: everyone survives.

[brooklyncitizen]

This is a great post and it occurred to me that although people are focusing on the pilot and rightfully so, that it also took all the quickness and wit and cooperation of the passengers as well as the ferries and NYPD and other New Yorkers on hand to pull it off the rescue. The metaphor is really about the strength of community in the face of tremendous odds. Beautiful.

[affidavit]

Those were my toughts exactly! The airplane represented the US and Bush and his administration were the equivalent of the Canadiand Geese. . . or maybe Texan Geese.

[trubluelefty]

Oh God... what is this person talking about ? what was auspicious about a plane crash bird episode. I did not see this on TV but saw one picture where the survivor's appeared to be walking on water. And I knew that soon someone would write this. And someone would post it. And I would read it.