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"The success of the 'Miracle on the Hudson' flight was, at its core, a story of people - people working together to accomplish great things," was the overriding message delivered by Jeff Skiles (pictured here with a plane similar to the one that he and Sully landed in the Hudson River in the background). Along with Captain Chelsey 'Sully' Sullenberger, Skiles was the Co-Captain on the 'Miracle on the Hudson' flight that was forced to land in the Hudson River after birds caused both engines to fail. Miraculously, the entire crew and all passengers survived. Skiles made his remarks before the largest crowd ever for the Closing Session of the Maine CU League's Annual Meeting & Convention on Saturday, May 20. While he methodically relived the events of that day in January that became the subject of the hit movie last fall starring Tom Hanks, Skiles also devoted time to sharing lessons learned from the experience and how they could be applied to many other scenarios.
"Things happen but what worked in our favor was that we had been trained extensively, though not for that particular emergency. We also knew our entire team had gone through the same training so we could all work together. There is a great sense of comfort knowing that you're in an unthinkable situation with competent, well-trained people. A lot of credit goes to the management of the airline who listened to its employees and changed its training procedures to focus on empowering employees. Though Sully was the leader of the aircraft, we were all leaders, in a sense, because we all understood our roles and felt supported in making decisions," Skiles noted.
Skiles also remarked that having the proper resources in place are an essential part of successful outcomes. He cautioned, though, that, even with the best resources and tools, mistakes happen. "It's okay to admit mistakes and management must encourage employees to share information, even when it is about a mistake. Create an atmosphere where people aren't punished for being human. Human beings are capable of great things but have human faults. It doesn't matter if your workplace is the sky or the teller line at a credit union, the atmosphere of learning must be throughout the organization."
Skiles said the events of January 15, 2009, will forever be a part of "who I am, but it doesn't define me. I am proud of how our team worked together to achieve the best possible outcome for everyone involved in that flight; however, I still fly and still need to train and learn new procedures all of the time. Just because the outcome was successful that day doesn't mean, without training and teamwork, it will be again. My parting advice to all of you is 'always be willing to innovate and cultivate a workplace that promotes lifelong learning'. Striving to do better should forever be one of your goals - your co-workers and the people you serve are counting on it."