'60 Minutes': An emotional reunion Video
'60 Minutes': An emotional reunion Video Transcript
>> Katie: There are 150 people who might not be alive today if it weren't for Captain Sullenberger and his crew. We invited some of the passengers to reunite with them in Charlotte, North Carolina the city that was supposed to be the final destination for flight 1549. ^M00:00:18 [ Applause ] ^M00:00:36
>> Sullenberger: Hi
>> Amy: Amy [inaudible]
>> Sullenberger: Hi Amy, how are you?
>> Amy: Thanks for saving my life.
>> You did an incredible job.
>> Sherry: Thank you so much for bringing my husband home to me.
>> Sullenberger: What's your name?
>> Sherry: Sherry Leonard
>> Judy: Judy
>> Sullenberger: Hi Judy.
>> Thank you so much.
>> You kept our family together.
>> You are our hero.
>> Yes, you and the whole crew.
>> Sullenberger: [inaudible] okay.
>> -- celebrity and my personal hero.
>> Did you -- can I ask you to sign my shirt.
>> Sullenberger: You got it let me make it big and bold. Where were you sitting?
>> I was in 16B [inaudible]
>> Sullenberger: I saw you.
>> You guys gave us all the courage.
>> Sullenberger: More than one woman came up to me and said, "Thank you for not making me a widow, thank you for allowing my 3 year old son to have a father."
>> [inaudible]
>> Sullenberger: You're very welcome.
>> Katie: Wow
>> Sullenberger: This is unbelievable.
>> One man had told me that, you know, I was looking at him and he was in first class and he seemed to be very anxious and I just told him just, you know, be calm and, you know, just try to breathe.
>> I can't tell you how [inaudible] that was when we were coming down and I was just thinking this person is looking at me and she's telling me everything's gonna be fine, thank you again.
>> He showed me a picture of himself with his niece and the niece was the child of his brother who was killed in 911.
>> Sullenberger: Then he told me he didn't think that his family could take losing a second son.
>> My brother [inaudible] killed in the Trade Center and all the way down I'm thinking my family's not gonna survive this I've got to get off this airplane. I can't believe [inaudible] walk off that airplane it's a miracle and I really thank you.
>> Sullenberger: 155 is a number but when you can put faces to it and not just 155 faces but the other faces, the wives, the daughters, the sons, the fathers, the mothers, the brothers, you know, it's -- it gets to be a pretty big number pretty quickly. I simply wanted to thank all of you for coming I think today was as much and as good for me and my crew as it was for you. We will be joined forever because of the events of January 15th in our hearts and our minds, good bye. ^M00:02:57 [ Applause ] ^M00:02:59
>> Katie: It was an emotional experience for all of them following weeks that Captain Sullenberger described as surreal. There was the Super Bowl.
>> Please welcome the crew of U.S. Airways flight 1549.
>> Katie: The inauguration and a chance to meet the President and a celebration in his hometown of Danville, California. [music]
>> Captain Chesley Sullenberger is a true American hero. [applause]
>> Katie: But like many of the passengers the crew members are also having difficulty processing what happened including Captain Sullenberger.
>> Sullenberger: One of the hardest things for me to do in this whole experience was to forgive myself for not having done something else, something better, something more complete, I don't know.
>> Katie: But it had such a good ending.
>> Sullenberger: Yes, it did.
>> Katie: And it could have had such a terrible ending.
>> Sullenberger: I know.
>> Katie: But you play this over in your head.
>> Sullenberger: The first few nights were the worst when the "what ifs" started, the second guessings would come and it made sleep hard.
>> Katie: Like what?
>> Sullenberger: Just replaying it, you know the flashbacks. You know, did we -- were we aware of everything we could have been aware of, did we make the best choices, you know, all those kinds of thoughts.
>> Katie: And when you think that way do you regret anything that you did?
>> Sullenberger: No, not now.
>> Katie: Captain Sullenberger says he plans to fly again but he's not sure when. For now he and his family are finding comfort going through the mountain of mail he's received from all over the world.
>> "Mr. Sullenberger, great job I'd like to buy you a beer albeit a cheap domestic one $5.00 enclosed, God bless." [laughing]
>> "Dear Captain Sullenberger, in a world that seems to be full of bad news it was such a wonderful day on January 15th."
>> "Think about not only the 155 passengers but all the families who belong to these people."
>> "Dearest Captain Sullenberger, Big Apple hero, yesterday I received a voicemail from my 84 year old father who lives on the 30th floor of a building with river views here in Manhattan. Had you not been so skilled my father or others like him in their sky-high buildings could have perished along with your passengers had not you landed in the river as you had. As a Holocaust survivor my father taught me that to save a life is to save a world as you never know what the person you saved nor his or her prodigy will go on to contribute to the peace and healing of the world. Bless you dear Captain Sullenberger, New York loves you." That is my favorite one.
>> Sullenberger: Yeah, mine too.
>> Katie: You've been called a hero by a lot of people how do you feel about that?
>> Sullenberger: I don't feel comfortable embracing it but I don't want to deny it. I don't want to diminish their thankful feeling toward me by telling them that they're wrong. I'm beginning to understand why they might feel that way.
>> Katie: And why is that?
>> Sullenberger: Something about this episode has captured people's imagination I think they want good news, I think they want to feel hopeful again and if I can help in that way I will. ^M00:06:29 [ Sound effect ]
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