US Airways Flight 1549: Flawless Crisis Management

When that flock of birds crashed in US Airways Flight 1549 and knocked out both engines, Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and his crew displayed enormous courage and skill in putting the airliner down safely in the Hudson River and saving the lives of all 155 people aboard.

In two-minutes of extreme stress and danger, Sullenberger and his crew provided a flawless example of how to handle a crisis. They were calm, steady and professional. Led by Sullenberger, no one panicked, even while the A320 silently soared above New York City like an enormous, ungainly glider.

Of course, it’s impossible to compare a business crisis to the life or death challenges and sheer terror that Sullenberger and his crew faced. But we can draw some vital lessons about what it takes to handle a crisis.

1. Be quick but don’t hurry. Don’t let urgency trump accuracy.

Sullenberger instantly realized he was in a desperate situation. “It was the worst sickening, pit-of-your-stomach, falling-through-the-floor feeling I’ve ever felt in my life,” he said Sunday night (Feb. 8) on CBS’s 60 Minutes. “I knew immediately it was very bad.” But outwardly he was composed. He and the air traffic controllers he spoke with were calm, “breathtakingly calm” in the words of The New York Times. It’s clear that panic serves no useful purpose in the cockpit, but neither does it in the boardroom or executive suite during a business crisis, even when the life of a company is at stake. But calmness under stress doesn’t mean inactivity. Freezing at the controls is not helpful. Be prepared to act quickly, but in a measured, determined and purposeful way.

2. No one has command of the facts in the beginning. Don’t act as if you do, but don’t deny the obvious.

The only fact that Sullenberger had to work with initially was that both engines had lost power. As co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles was running through the “engine restart checklist” in hopes of repowering the engines, Sullenberger was gathering facts to assess his options. Could he turn around and go back to LaGuardia? No; not possible. What about heading for a runway at the nearby airport in Teeterboro, N.J.? Not enough time to get there as the plane was rapidly losing altitude. The river was the only alternative and Sullenberger took its measure. At the outset of a business crisis – say, a product recall or an environmental mishap – the facts are often obscured behind a fog of misinformation. Be clear about what you know and don’t guess at what you don’t know. As the facts emerge, you will have more confidence in your decisions.

3. Crisis management is a team exercise. Quickly integrate the players as much as possible.

Captain Sullenberger was the key individual responsible for the remarkable safe outcome to this potential catastrophe. But his actions alone were not enough to ensure everyone’s survival. He accomplished an amazing feat of airmanship to get the plane into the river safely, but others had to get them out. It was a team effort, and each team member knew his and her own jobs. The air traffic controllers matched Sullenberger’s coolness as they talked with the pilot and summoned emergency assistance. Flight attendants were calm and professional as they prepared passengers for the watery landing and worked to prevent panic once the aircraft was in the water. “We picked up on the courage of the crew and the flight attendants,” one of the passengers told Larry King in an interview last week. Panic is contagious, but so too is steadiness. How else could more than 150 people safely walk out onto the wings of an aircraft floating in the icy waters of the Hudson? And in minutes the teamwork extended to ferry boat crews and other first responders who rushed to the scene to take the passengers to safety. In a business crisis, teamwork is equally essential. Crisis management requires strong leadership and team work; it’s not the time for free agents and lone rangers. Each person must know their role and play it, with everyone focused on the same outcome. That’s what the remarkable “Sully” and crew did.