Literary Anaylis:
Characters and Plot: "Sully" is about Flight 1549 and landing on the Hudson River. It is also more about Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger's life and training before Flight 1549, The first half of the book introduces Sully and gives a lot of detail about his life and his training as a pilot, with the second part of the book detailing the Hudson landing. He grew up by Perrin Air Force Base so he had always been around planes. He went to the Airforce Academy for his flight training. He flew his entire career with US Air. He had many experiences as a pilot and a lot of training--even becoming an expert in aviation safety. Sully's family is very important to him and there are stories about his wife and family. All these details prove Sully's background and knowledge as a pilot to maybe help build why he made the decision to land in the Hudson. The other main character, Officer Jeff Stiles, doesn't come in until the second part of the book. And the major event in the book is the river landing.
Important Themes: I would say the major themes in the book are intincts and training. There was no way Sully could have landed the plane successfully in the river without all his experience as a pilot and his training--his intincts kicked in. Sully says that he had "a few unforgettable flights in my life, and they continue to live in my mind..." and that "as I worked to safely land Flight 1549 in the Hudson, almost subconciously, I drew on those experiences" (Sully, 2). Sully also is grateful to all the pilots he admired and the things they taught him. Sully says, "I long have had a great respect for pilots such as Al Haynes, Al Slader, and many others. And I believe that my knowledge and understanding of their actions was of great help to me on Flight 1549 as I made decisions in those tense moments over New York City" (Sully, 192).