The studio released a statement from Sullenberger saying: “The story being told came from my experiences, and reflects the many challenges that I faced and successfully overcame both during and after the flight. I was involved in the development and am thrilled it’s being brought to the screen.”
Book Renamed
The movie was based on Sullenberger’s 2009 book “Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters,” according to Warner Bros. Sullenberger, now a motivational speaker, is promoting the movie on his website and the studio is promoting his book on the movie’s website.
Benzon said he read the book -- since reissued under the title "Sully" with Hanks on the cover -- after it came out and it barely mentioned the NTSB investigation.
According to NTSB records and people who were present during the investigation, Sullenberger and others involved were treated like any other subjects would have been. If anything, the safety board was more deferential and complimentary than usual.
At the NTSB’s investigative hearing, for example, most of the questions to Sullenberger were softballs.
Cabin Announcement
The closest thing to a hard question came from Candace Kolander, a representative of the Association of Flight Attendants union, who took him to task for failing to announce a water landing over the intercom. He had merely instructed the crew and passengers to brace for impact.
Sullenberger said his top priority was keeping anyone from getting injured when the plane hit the water and he worried that flight attendants might have begun putting passengers into life vests and not been braced for impact had he announced a water landing.
“So it was a balancing act for the situation that we faced and the time that we had available,” he said, according to a transcript of the hearing.