It's been a long time since I last talked about the "Miracle on the Hudson" (see "Brace for Impact" from September 18, 2016). US Airways Flight 1549 took off from New York's LaGuardia Airport on January 15, 2009. Shortly after take-off, the Airbus A320 struck a flock of Canadian Geese, resulting in the loss of both the starboard and port engines. The pilot, Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and co-pilot, First Officer Jeffrey Skiles, executed a flawless emergency landing on the Hudson River. All 155 people onboard the aircraft survived. The story was the subject of a 2016 film Sully, starring Tom Hanks as Captain Sullenberger.
Just watch the take-off sequence from the movie, Sully, here. Read the transcript from the cockpit voice recorder here. It's the entire transcript, so there's a lot of conversation prior to take-off. Start at 15:27:10.4, when someone (I think it's Sully) says, "Birds." Now read the rest. What sticks out the most? The conversation becomes very short and concise - almost staccato in nature (for those of you who don't know music theory, staccato is when music is performed with each note sharply detached or separated from each other).
Here's a sample, starting at 15:27:23.2:
15:27:23.2 HOT-1 my aircraft.
15:27:24 HOT-2 your aircraft.
15:27:28 HOT-1 get the QRH... [Quick Reference Handbook] loss of thrust on both engines.
15:27:32.9 RDO-1 mayday mayday mayday. uh this is uh Cactus fifteen thirty nine hit birds, we've lost thrust (in/on) both engines we're turning back towards LaGuardia.
15:27:42 DEP ok uh, you need to return to LaGuardia? turn left heading of uh two two zero.
15:27:46 RDO-1 two two zero.
15:27:50 HOT-2 if fuel remaining, engine mode selector, ignition.* ignition.
15:27:54 HOT-1 ignition.
15:27:55 HOT-2 thrust levers confirm idle.
15:27:58 HOT-1 idle.
15:28:02 HOT-2 airspeed optimum relight. three hundred knots. we don't have that.
15:28:05 HOT-1 we don't.
15:28:05 DEP Cactus fifteen twenty nine, if we can get it for you do you want to try to land runway one three?
15:28:05 CAM-2 if three nineteen-
15:28:10.6 RDO-1 we're unable. we may end up in the Hudson.
I removed the transcript of the sounds from the various warning indicators in the aircraft, but I think you get the idea here. The two individuals flying the plane during this crisis were communicating with each other and with the air traffic controller using clear, crisp phrases and closed loop feedback (every point was clarified with the confirmatory response - for example,Sully states "My aircraft" when he takes control of the plane, followed shortly by Skyles confirming and "closing the loop" with a "Your aircraft"). Both Captain Sullenberger and First Officer Skyles were trained in something called, Crew Resource Management (CRM), which is designed to improve interpersonal communication, decision-making, and leadership during both routine and nonroutine flight operations.
CRM was first developed in 1980 and is now widely used in both commercial and military aviation around the world. There are two fundamental aspects to the successful implementation of CRM. First, the normal hierarchy in the cockpit (pilot is senior to the first officer) must be flattened. Flying a commercial plane like the Airbus A320 is beyond the skills and capabilities of a single individual. Flight crews have to work together as a team, particularly during a crisis such as the one expeirenced by Flight 1549 on that day. Second and related to the first, there must be psychological safety. The first officer must feel comfortable raising his or her concerns to te captain. Just as importantly, the captain must address those concerns in an open and respectful manner.
CRM has been applied to other industries as well, including health care, and it is a particularly effective way to manage a crisis. A group of investigators have studied patterns of communication and teamwork used by commercial pilots during their full-flight simulations. They tested a scenario that included both routine and non-routine elements, including an in-flight emergency. What they found is pretty amazing.
Above all else, the captain's style of communication had a significant impact on how the flight crew performed. First, the crews performed much better when the pilot included the co-pilot in the decision-making process as opposed to just "barking out orders." Second, crews were more successful at finding a solution to the problem when the captain asked open-ended questions, such as "How do you assess the situation?" or "What do you suggest?" They published their findings in the journal, Group and Organization Management. Consistent with CRM, flight crews also performed better during emergency situations when communication was short and crisp.
As a follow-up, this same group of investigators surveyed a group of pilots in the German and Israeli air forces. The article here is available in German if you are interested (this may be the only time in my professional life that knowing some German was valuable!). The survey found that 80% of the pilots felt that subordinate crew members should speak up by freely and openly expressing their opinions. Importantly, the majority of these same subordinates expressed discomfort with doing so and would only speak up if invited to do so!
Similar findings were reported in a study published in the journal Human Factors in 1984. Here, 83% of pilots agreed that co-pilots should be free to openly question the decisions of the pilot, while significantly fewer (63%) agreed. Further, while almost 75% of pilots agreed with the statement that co-pilots need to be encouraged to speak up, 91% of co-pilots felt that way. In other words, consistent with the results of the survey of German and Israeli air force flight crews, pilots feel that co-pilots should actively speak up, but co-pilots feel that the pilots should encourage them to do so! Here is clear proof of the need for psychological safety!
There is no room for hubris in leadership. No matter the situation, leaders need to rely upon their teams to collaborate and work together. Leaders also need the individual members of the team to speak up - even if that means openly disagreeing with the leader. Psychological safety is critically important to the successful completion of almost any task by a team. And as these studies suggest, leaders have to be the ones to encourage their teams to speak up in order to achieve the level of psychological safety that is necessary for optimal team performance.
The men and women flying on US Airways Flight 1549 owe their lives to how well the flight crew performed that day. But to call it a "miracle"? The right team was there that day for sure, but the leader created and fostered the right climate for the team to perform. CRM and one of its core principles - psychological safety - clearly made the difference.
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