FILM 1870: SULLY: MIRACLE ON THE HUDSON

FILM 1870: SULLY: MIRACLE ON THE HUDSON

TRIVIA: Ferry Captain Vincent Lombardi, who was the Captain of the first ferry to reach the plane, played himself in the movie.

Chesley Sullenberger was present at the studio. He supported the movie and helped it to reflect reality.

Clint Eastwood deliberately filmed the escape onto the life raft without rehearsal to capture the physical difficulty of releasing the raft. Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart's actions were unscripted.

The actual Airbus A320 involved in the incident was recovered from the Hudson and placed on display at the Carolina's Aviation Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina. Charlotte was the original destination for this flight. Footage shown during the credits, with the actual passengers and crew, was shot at the museum.

"Cactus" was the air traffic control name for America West Airlines, so named because it was based in Phoenix and needed to sound distinct from American Airlines. America West later became part of US Airways. That's why the flight is identified as "Cactus 1549."

During the in-flight emergency, Sully asks his co-pilot Jeff Skiles to "get the QRH." The Quick Reference Handbook (QRH) contains all the procedures applicable for abnormal and emergency conditions in an easy-to-use format. In addition, performance data corrections are also provided for specific conditions. The aviation acronym "QRH" is never explained or defined anywhere in the movie.

At 96 minutes, this is the shortest film Clint Eastwood has directed.

This is the first collaboration between Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks.

The song "A Real Hero" by French electronica artist College, in collaboration with Electric Youth, released in 2010, is about Captain Chesley Sullenberger and the U.S. Airways Flight 1549 water landing incident. Electric Youth frontman Austin Garrick was inspired to write the song by a quote from his grandfather, who spoke of Sullenberger and the incident. Garrick's grandfather referred to Sullenberger as "a real human being and a real hero," which became the song's refrain. The song has been featured in films including Drive (2011) and Taken 2 (2012).