Jeffrey Skiles

Jeffrey Bruce "Jeff" Skiles (born November 18, 1959) is an airline pilot for American Airlines.[1] On January 15, 2009, he became known globally as first officer of US Airways Flight 1549, when he worked together with captain Sully Sullenberger to land the aircraft on the Hudson River after the plane lost both of its engines.[2][3][4] They were widely celebrated as heroes for landing the plane with no loss of life.

Jeffrey Skiles
Skiles at the first inauguration of Barack Obama on 20 January 2009
Born (1959-11-18) November 18, 1959
Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Occupation(s)Airline pilot; former co-chairman of the EAA Young Eagles Program
Known forFirst Officer of US Airways Flight 1549 with Chesley Sullenberger

Early life and career

Jeff Skiles was born and raised in the greater Madison metropolitan area of Wisconsin. Both of Skiles' parents, James Skiles and Deloris McKenney, were pilots during his childhood, and he became a pilot himself when he was sixteen years old.[2] He first worked flying cargo planes, then worked for Midstate Airlines from 1983 to 1986, and after that joined US Airways. At the time of the emergency landing he had been with US Airways for 23 years.

US Airways Flight 1549
Main article: US Airways Flight 1549
US Airways Flight 1549 afloat in the Hudson River

Skiles was flying as a First Officer on Flight 1549 due to a staff reduction at US Airways;[5] he had usually flown as Captain prior to the staff reduction and had slightly more flight hours than Sullenberger (though Skiles was relatively new to flying the Airbus A320).[6]

Atul Gawande, author of The Checklist Manifesto, asserted that the successful emergency landing relied on the cooperation of Sullenberger and Skiles.[7] Gawande's central premise is that even really experienced people in any field encounter rare events, and that successfully coping with the rare event requires first, the careful anticipation of future emergencies, and secondly, preparing a well thought-out list of steps to follow, in advance:

Capt. Sullenberger could be certain that Skiles was doing everything possible to re-start the engines, while he focused all of his attention and skill upon the problem of finding a place to land. The pilot and crew’s adherence to strict protocols contained in the checklist allowed them to function in a complex and dire situation.[7]

In his book, Gawande stated that, during an emergency, there are so many tasks to complete that the first officer is working at least as hard as the captain.[8] Sullenberger had taken on the task of finding a safe place to land, and actually landing, leaving his experienced co-pilot Skiles the task of following the checklist to try to restart the jet engines. Gawande noted that Skiles was able to complete the checklist in the less than three-minute period between the bird strike and the landing, noting this was "something investigators later testified to be "very remarkable" in the time frame he had—and something they found difficult to replicate in simulation."

PBS interviewer Charlie Rose interviewed Skiles on February 10, 2009.[9] During that interview, Skiles predicted that Sullenberger would receive on-going attention, but his (Skiles') fifteen minutes of fame would end when he left Rose's studio. Nonetheless, he has continued to be a well-known speaker on corporate organizational reform and crisis management.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) conducted a lengthy and extensive investigation of the accident culminating in their published report dated April 4, 2010, stating: “The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the ingestion of large birds into each engine, which resulted in an almost total loss of thrust in both engines and the subsequent ditching on the Hudson River.”

Post Flight 1549 career

After a formal review of their performance, both Sullenberger and Skiles had their flight status restored, but Sullenberger retired in 2010.[10] Sullenberger and Skiles flew together, on March 3, 2010, on a recreation of their original flight plan, on Sullenberger's last flight for US Airways.

Skiles went on to become the Vice President of the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations (CAPA), which represents the interests of 28,000 airline pilots in safety and security issues. In this role he was instrumental in the creation of the First Officer Qualification rule, which significantly increased the requirements for training and experience of First Officers on the flight deck of US registered airliners. Skiles joined with the Families of Continental Flight 3407 and the National Air Disaster Alliance to mold the creation of and ensure passage of the Airline Safety Act of 2010, which significantly improved safety in the US airline industry. Since its passage, the only fatality in a US airline accident occurred April 17, 2018, when a passenger died onboard Southwest Airlines Flight 1380.

In September 2009, Skiles and Sullenberger became the honorary Co-Chairmen of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)'s Young Eagles program, which utilizes EAA's nationwide network of local chapters to offer free airplane rides to young people and expose them to general aviation and careers in aviation. EAA volunteers have performed over 2.2 million flights since its inception, making it the most successful program of its kind in history.

As of 2021, Skiles was working for American Airlines, piloting Boeing 787 Dreamliners.[1]

Honors

On January 16, 2009, the United States Senate passed a resolution recognizing and honoring Sullenberger, Skiles, the cabin crew, the passengers, and the first responders involved in Flight 1549's emergency landing;[11] and during the Super Bowl XLIII pre-game ceremony on February 1, 2009, Sullenberger, Skiles, and Flight 1549's cabin crew—Doreen Welsh, Sheila Dail, and Donna Dent—were honored with a standing ovation.[12] Skiles and the entire crew of Flight 1549 also received a Masters Medal by the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators[13] and a Key to the City of New York[14] in 2009, as well as the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Trophy for Current Achievement in 2010.[15] Through their involvement with the Young Eagles and various aviation safety advocacy efforts, Skiles and Sullenberger received the 2015 EAA Freedom of Flight Award.

Publications and media

Skiles is a writer and, since 2011, has published over 100 articles on safety and general interest aviation topics in nationally distributed magazines such as Sport Aviation, Flying, Air & Space, PilotMag, Midwest Flyer, Vintage Airplane, and the Physicians Executive Journal.

In the 2016 drama film Sully, directed by Clint Eastwood, Skiles is portrayed by Aaron Eckhart, while Sullenberger is portrayed by Tom Hanks.

References
  1. "American Airlines Marks the 10th Anniversary of the Miracle on the Hudson". American Airlines. Charlotte, North Carolina. 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2020-04-07. Sullenberger and Welsh retired from US Airways in 2010. Dent retired from American in 2017 and today marks Dail's last day at the airline before retirement. Skiles is based in Chicago and flies Boeing 787 aircraft for American.
  2. Scott Bauer (2009-01-15). "Co-pilot in Hudson plane crash from Wisconsin". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Oregon. Retrieved 2020-04-05. His father, James J. Skiles of nearby Verona, said his son's been flying since he was 15 years old. He's worked almost 26 years for US Airways and prior to that worked for Midstate Airlines and also flew cargo planes, Barbara Skiles said.
  3. Catherine Elsworth (2009-01-17). "New York plane crash: co-pilot tells captain 'You pulled it off!'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2020-04-05. Overheard minutes after the plane was brought down safely in New York on Thursday, Mr Skiles said: 'You know, Sully - no-one's ever had a successful ditch before. You pulled it off.'
  4. John Allen (Summer 2009). "This is Your Copilot Speaking" (PDF). On Wisconsin. p. 30. Retrieved 2020-04-07. I don't know who decided it, but afterward, somebody said we absolutely had to go to the hospital, even though four of us [all but flight attendant Doreen Welsh, who suffered a lacerated leg] were fine. So they took us to the hospital, and that took a long time. Everything took forever. And what strikes me is that everybody was talking around us — the police were talking amongst each other in little groups; the union guys are talking to each other. Nobody's talking to us. It's almost like we were pariahs.
  5. Subcommittee on Aviation (2009-02-24). "US Airways Flight 1549 Accident Hearing (111-10)" (PDF). Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Washington DC. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-04-05. I think the word of the day today is ″experience,″ obviously, looking at us. I myself have 20,000 flying hours. I have been a captain at US Airways in the past, but due to cutbacks, I am flying as a first officer right now. And I have been flying for 32 years myself.
  6. "Atul Gawande at the 2009 New Yorker Festival". The New Yorker magazine. 2009-10-25. Retrieved 2020-04-05. One thing to think about that stuck in my mind was that Sullenberger, who was captain, and Jeffrey Skiles, who was the co-pilot, the first officer, had never flown together before they got on that plane that day.
  7. "Getting things right" (PDF). p. 2. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  8. Atul Gawande (2010). The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. Henry Holt and Company. pp. 178–180. ISBN 9781429953382. Retrieved 2020-04-05. The plane had only three and a half minutes of glide in it. In that time, Skiles needed to make sure he'd done everything possible to relight the engines while also preparing the aircraft for ditching if it wasn't feasible. But the steps required just to restart on engine typically take more time than that.
  9. Charlie Rose (2009-02-10). "Jeffrey Skiles". Charlie Rose show. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  10. Scott Mayerowitz (2010-03-03). "Sully Retires: No More Miracles on the Hudson: The US Airways pilot is retiring after 30 years of flying". ABC News. Retrieved 2020-04-05. In October, just before the release of his book, Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles, who was with him for the Hudson crash flight, took to the skies again together. The pair flew from Charlotte, N.C., to New York in the morning and then returned together in a trip called their 'reunion flight.'
  11. "S.Res.17 - A resolution recognizing and honoring Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III, his co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles, the crewmembers of U.S. Airways Flight 1549, and the first responders, ferry operators and tug boat drivers of New York City, for their heroic and intuitive roles in the safe emergency landing of U.S. Airways Flight 1549". Library of Congress. January 16, 2009. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  12. "Super ovation for 'Sully', US Airways crew". NBC Sports. Associated Press. February 1, 2009. Archived from the original on February 3, 2009. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  13. "US Airways Flight 1549 Crew receive prestigious Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators Award" (PDF). GAPAN. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2009. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  14. "Mayor gives airliner crew keys to NYC". The Denver Post. February 9, 2009. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  15. Van der Linden, Bob(April 26, 2010). "The Crew of US Airways Flight 1549 to be Presented with the National Air and Space Museum's Trophy Award for Current Achievement". Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
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