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Speaker 1: Welcome everyone.

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Speaker 2: This is NY and TJ.

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Speaker 1: And this is actually a very special anniversary. I know

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Speaker 1: that how many years have you been in the business

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Speaker 1: covering events? And twenty five twenty five years, twenty seven

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Speaker 1: plus for me, Can you recall TJ ever covering a

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Speaker 1: plane crash where anyone survived?

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Speaker 3: That is, I can only remember one. I'm trying to

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Speaker 3: think of another, um and that's tough right now, I

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Speaker 3: can't come up with it right.

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Speaker 1: You're looking for a survivor, if anyone survived. But I

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Speaker 1: think we all can remember fifteen years ago. That's the

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Speaker 1: crazy part where there was a plane crash and you

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Speaker 1: didn't just have some survivors or a survivor, but you

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Speaker 1: had one hundred fifty five survivors. Everyone on board, passengers

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Speaker 1: and crew survive. Of course, we are talking about the

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Speaker 1: miracle on the Hudson, and I covered it. I was

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Speaker 1: with another network, just from the desk as an anchor.

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Speaker 1: You were actually on the ground. You were at CNN

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Speaker 1: when this all went I.

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Speaker 3: Was, yeah. So I was in Atlanta with CNN, which

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Speaker 3: was where most of the shows are coming out of

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Speaker 3: at that time, and it was an easy flight over

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Speaker 3: to Charlotte because Charlotte is where that plane was headed,

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Speaker 3: and so many folks on that plane were trying to

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Speaker 3: get home, So they didn't make it on that flight.

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Speaker 3: At least a lot of them caught the next one,

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Speaker 3: and I was there to receive them at the airport

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Speaker 3: in Charlotte. When Yeah, those survivors, it's crazy to think

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Speaker 3: you were just in a plane crash and then you

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Speaker 3: ran and got onto the plane.

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Speaker 1: Some of them did some of that, not everyone did.

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Speaker 4: I don't know that.

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Speaker 2: Would you have done that?

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Speaker 1: Would you have jumped on a plane right after?

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Speaker 3: You know what? I think? So, because what are the chants?

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Speaker 3: There's no way I'm going to be involved in two

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Speaker 3: plane crashes.

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Speaker 1: Lightning doesn't strike twice back to back day.

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Speaker 3: There's no way. And plus I know how you are.

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Speaker 3: I am sure you would have gotten on a plane.

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Speaker 3: I am sure because I got to get home the schedule,

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Speaker 3: you got a plan. I am sure you would have

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Speaker 3: gotten on a plane.

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Speaker 1: Well, it is, and it continues to be an unthinkable miracle. Actually,

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Speaker 1: of course, Captain Sully Sullenberg safely landing US Airways fifteen

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Speaker 1: forty nine in the icy Hudson River. I think it

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Speaker 1: was like twenty something degrees outside that day, a flock

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Speaker 1: of geese in case you don't remember, took out his

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Speaker 1: engines and forced a crash landing, and incredibly, Sully as

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Speaker 1: he is affectionately referred, landed that plane on the Hudson

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Speaker 1: and everyone made it out okay. And it is a

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Speaker 1: story that we don't want to forget because there aren't

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Speaker 1: many stories like this that have this kind of ending.

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Speaker 1: And it's not even just about the miracle of the landing.

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Speaker 1: But I think what's really remarkable about this story is

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Speaker 1: it fifteen years later. It's not the crash, it's what

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Speaker 1: happened after the crash to so many of these survivors.

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Speaker 1: When you go through something that is truly a near

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Speaker 1: death experience, you don't live the same way that you

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Speaker 1: did before. And I spoke to one of the survivors

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Speaker 1: way back, and I'll never forget this woman. She said

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Speaker 1: to me, everyone at some point in their life has

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Speaker 1: their plane crash. It's what you do with your life

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Speaker 1: afterwards that counts. And so we have two of the

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Speaker 1: survivors from that incredible miracle like fifteen forty nine with

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Speaker 1: us today on this podcast, fifteen years later to the date,

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Speaker 1: to not only talk about what they went through, but

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Speaker 1: how this impacted and changed their lives forever, how they

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Speaker 1: live differently. So we want to welcome Jim Whittaker and

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Speaker 1: Valley Collins to the podcast to honor what they went

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Speaker 1: through and to talk about where they are are now

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Speaker 1: because it is such an incredible journey to get to

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Speaker 1: this day.

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Speaker 2: So welcome.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for being here, Jim and Valley, Hi, thanks

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Speaker 1: for having us.

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Speaker 4: Hey, folks, thanks for the invitation.

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Speaker 3: Well, Jim, I'll ask you, we were just kind of

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Speaker 3: joking here about whether or not we would have gotten

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Speaker 3: on a plane right after that. Is this right you?

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Speaker 3: I think you've told this story over the years. Not

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Speaker 3: only did you get on a plane pretty soon, you

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Speaker 3: were lit to RelA on the phone trying to book

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Speaker 3: another flight, very very soon, maybe even while the plane

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Speaker 3: was still sitting there on the hutst and you hadn't

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Speaker 3: even gotten the dry land yet.

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Speaker 4: I have flown a few flights and I mistakenly thought

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Speaker 4: US Airways would be ready for a crash and to

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Speaker 4: rebook survivors. But I was wrong every single day. So yeah,

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Speaker 4: when I first called US Airways at the time, US

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Speaker 4: are Ways, it was very funny because I did call

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Speaker 4: and say, hey, I'm a crash survivor. I'd like to

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Speaker 4: get on another airplane, and they didn't get it. They

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Speaker 4: thought it was a sicker joke than normal, because it literally,

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Speaker 4: by the time I called, had not even made it

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Speaker 4: to the wire yet inside of the carrier, which was

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Speaker 4: beyond bizarre. And then by the time we even got

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Speaker 4: to the airport later that night, those folks at the

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Speaker 4: counter still didn't know there had been an airplane crash.

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Speaker 4: And all I had for an ID was a library

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Speaker 4: card and we wanted to get on an airplane and

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Speaker 4: go home.

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Speaker 3: But I'm still struggling of your mindset. You just went

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Speaker 3: through something that traumatic and you don't even have time

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Speaker 3: to process it before you were literally trying to get

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Speaker 3: back on another plane.

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Speaker 4: Well, I was defective before I was only a little

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Speaker 4: bit more defective.

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Speaker 1: That's a great And you know, Jim, I don't know

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Speaker 1: that you know this, but I believe you and TJ

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Speaker 1: might have met fifteen years ago.

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Speaker 3: That was, and I might have interviewed you because I

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Speaker 3: was there at the Charlotte Airport waiting on that plane

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Speaker 3: to land, and it was we were all waiting, so

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Speaker 3: many reporters and photographers were there like, we don't know

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Speaker 3: which ones are going to be the survivors, Like what

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Speaker 3: does a plane crash survivor look like? We're like, oh, okay,

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Speaker 3: which ones are going to be? It was not easy

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Speaker 3: to identify, hard to identify you guys, because you were

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Speaker 3: wearing Red Cross blankets as like a badge of honor

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Speaker 3: when you got out. And also most of y'all were

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Speaker 3: half drunk. They were giving y'all free drinks on the

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Speaker 3: flight on the way, which they should have, but you

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Speaker 3: all got all You're the happiest plane crash survivors I'd

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Speaker 3: ever seen.

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Speaker 4: Well, I think it was the Red Cross blanket that

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Speaker 4: did it, tj. That may be a matter of opinion.

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Speaker 4: Was but it was the free swag from having been

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Speaker 4: a crash survivor getting a Red Cross blanket to some

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Speaker 4: kind of gold star.

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Speaker 1: And Jim, you said your clothing was still wet when

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Speaker 1: you got off that plane.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I was being chilly, but it's true and Valley

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Speaker 4: would know the same story. But by the time the

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Speaker 4: plane stopped moving in the river inside was taking on

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Speaker 4: water very quickly. So having survived to an airplane crashed,

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Speaker 4: the next scare was I really don't want to drown

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Speaker 4: floating down the river in the middle of the winter.

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Speaker 4: So yeah, we were all plenty of wet on the

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Speaker 4: inset before we got off the airplane and were rescued

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Speaker 4: to the shoreline. But then something about walking around the

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Speaker 4: rest of the day in wet clothes, it's just really

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Speaker 4: not a cool feeling. So I was free to go home.

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Speaker 1: I can only imagine and Valley. I was actually able

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Speaker 1: to speak to both of you a couple of years ago,

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Speaker 1: which was it's pretty awesome to be able to come

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Speaker 1: back five years later and see how you're doing. But

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Speaker 1: I remember I asked you what your seat number was,

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Speaker 1: twenty six D. You'll never forget that, never as long

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Speaker 1: as I live.

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Speaker 2: No, actually my seat was twenty sixty was my assigned seat.

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Speaker 2: But after the birds hit, I got up in the

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Speaker 2: aisle because the flight attendant was trying to get something

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Speaker 2: behind my seat, and the empty seat next to me

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Speaker 2: was twenty six E. Because we had one baby on boards,

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Speaker 2: we had an empty seat, so the flight attendant told

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Speaker 2: me to sit in that middle seat. So I started

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Speaker 2: in twenty six DY, but I landed in twenty six E.

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Speaker 2: I still claim twenty six.

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Speaker 3: D landed, landed.

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Speaker 2: How azing is that?

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Speaker 1: Landing on the Hudson not just your regular runway. I

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Speaker 1: want to ask you both in Valley. I'll start with you.

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Speaker 1: What is it like to hear the phrase coming from

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Speaker 1: the captain of the plane brace for impact? What's the

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Speaker 1: first thing you think? What's the first thing you do?

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Speaker 2: Well, the first thing I thought the gentleman at the window.

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Speaker 2: He had been looking out and he told me we

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Speaker 2: were going into the river, So I you know, he said,

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Speaker 2: be ready, we're going in the water. So like right

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Speaker 2: about the time that Sullenberger said brace for impact. So

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Speaker 2: I'm just thinking airplane water landing. This plane's going to cartwheel,

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Speaker 2: gonna bust into a lot of pieces. So, Valley, if

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Speaker 2: you're conscious, just swim to the light. That's just what

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Speaker 2: I told myselone. I'm a person I always wmot have

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Speaker 2: a plan, and that was my plan that if I

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Speaker 2: was awake and conscious, just well the seat, you know,

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Speaker 2: unbuckle the seat belt and start swimming towards the light. Now,

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Speaker 2: before the brace for impact comment or you know, hea

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Speaker 2: announcer from Sullenberger, I was pretty aware we were in

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Speaker 2: a dire situation. My seat mate had told me there

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Speaker 2: was birds. I could smell the smoke. We didn't have

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Speaker 2: any other thrusts, so, you know, in those moments, my

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Speaker 2: thoughts were more of just about raising my children, not

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Speaker 2: getting to see them hit all those milestones. I literally

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Speaker 2: I sent my husband a text message that said, my

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Speaker 2: flight is crashing, because I didn't want him to wonder

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Speaker 2: for an hour or a day or a week, you know,

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Speaker 2: to get confirmation. Because this was back, because it is

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Speaker 2: fifteen years ago. We didn't have Google calendars. We didn't

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Speaker 2: keep up with what airline, what flight number, you know,

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Speaker 2: we just weren't. We traveled all the time, so I thought,

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Speaker 2: he doesn't even know I'm on board the plane. So

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Speaker 2: those were That's kind of what I got done in

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Speaker 2: the three and a half minutes from when the birds

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Speaker 2: hit to EVA.

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Speaker 1: Three and a half minutes. Jim, what did you do?

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Speaker 4: Well? Valley's description was a good one. There was already

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Speaker 4: plenty of pandemonium going on because remember from wheels up

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Speaker 4: to impact with the birds. It was only ninety seconds,

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Speaker 4: but everything was at full thrust. Typical day in the

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Speaker 4: aviation business, right, So from the moment of the bird impact,

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Speaker 4: pandemonium was quick to start. Of course, and then the

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Speaker 4: command to brace for impact only made everything exponentially worse

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Speaker 4: on the inside of the airplane. And you know, there's

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Speaker 4: there's probably not a set of words that does justice

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Speaker 4: to the things that Value was talking about and what

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Speaker 4: we both experienced, because that's just one of those worst

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Speaker 4: moments where you just wouldn't be able to describe another

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Speaker 4: human where people are so between total silence to praying

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Speaker 4: out loud, to screaming and crying to cursing in anger.

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Speaker 4: It was the fullest, braw range of emotions you could

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Speaker 4: possibly imagine ever hearing at one time. So it was

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Speaker 4: it was as raw a moment as I've of course

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Speaker 4: ever experienced in life.

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Speaker 3: But you you talk about the range of emotion and

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Speaker 3: a range of thoughts, Valley was just mentioning talking about

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Speaker 3: her kids, wanting to be there for our kids and

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Speaker 3: raise their kids. But Jim in that and right ninety

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Speaker 3: seconds the impact happens with the birds, and then another

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Speaker 3: essentially ninety seconds and you're in the river. What though,

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Speaker 3: at what point in those three minutes did it switch

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Speaker 3: from oh my god, I'm going to die to oh wow,

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Speaker 3: I'm going to survive this thing.

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Speaker 4: Well, everyone has their own experience, and everyone has their

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Speaker 4: own faith tradition, so that the thought of dying wasn't

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Speaker 4: really that so called scary to me. But I was

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Speaker 4: way preoccupied because I was the dummy. They got to

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Speaker 4: stand by seat, so I was sitting next to the

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Speaker 4: woman with the baby.

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Speaker 2: I was really.

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Speaker 4: Preoccupied by a nine month old that was practically as

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Speaker 4: big as his mother, crawling everywhere. So for me, that

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Speaker 4: whole experience was really really small in the fact that

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Speaker 4: it was between two humans that had never met one

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Speaker 4: another before and a mother that was separated from her

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Speaker 4: husband and another child on board and clearly terrified in

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Speaker 4: not knowing what to do with this rambunctious baby. So me,

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Speaker 4: like a fool, being a father of five, said hey,

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Speaker 4: let me hold your baby. And she was incredibly, incredibly courageous.

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Speaker 4: As I'm sure you all have heard the story before,

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Speaker 4: is she actually surrendered and gave up her child to

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Speaker 4: someone else that she thought, maybe because he was a nut,

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Speaker 4: was going to somehow be able to protect this child

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Speaker 4: as we were going in the river.

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Speaker 1: Wow, that is incredible. I'm curious, Bally, what actually goes

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Speaker 1: through your mind? Did you believe you were going to

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Speaker 1: die and do you see your life flash before you do?

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Speaker 1: Things seem like they happened in slow motion. What were

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Speaker 1: those three and a half minutes like?

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Speaker 2: Well, to echo what Jim said, I don't think I

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Speaker 2: was so scared of dying. I've always been a person

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Speaker 2: of faith, so I remember thinking, well, God, this is

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Speaker 2: your will. I accepted. I'm not crazy about it, but

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Speaker 2: I accept it, and I do at that point. I

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Speaker 2: was thirty seven years old that day and three of

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Speaker 2: my four grandparents were still alive, so the one grandparent

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Speaker 2: that had passed, I just thought, well, he's going to

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Speaker 2: be there waiting on me. So I wasn't so scared

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Speaker 2: of dying. I was just more selfishly. I mean, it's

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Speaker 2: fomo at the max. Okay, I was so sad about

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Speaker 2: all the things I was going to miss out on

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Speaker 2: in my family's life. That's what really made me so sad.

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Speaker 2: You know, I'm not a perfect mother, but I am

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Speaker 2: their mother, and my children were four, six, and nine

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Speaker 2: on that day, so I knew it's going to totally

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Speaker 2: impact their life significantly for the rest of their lives.

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Speaker 2: Not that I didn't think Steve would do a great

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Speaker 2: job finishing racing them, but I was just I was

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Speaker 2: just wrecked about all those big moments, all those big

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Speaker 2: milestone moments I was gonna miss.

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Speaker 3: No, Valley, tell me, past fifteen years, what have been

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Speaker 3: the milestone moments? Would have been the moments that, Oh

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Speaker 3: my god, I cannot imagine I would have missed this.

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Speaker 2: Oh gosh, I'm gonna get teaching them all three to

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Speaker 2: drive a car, drive a stick shift. In our house,

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Speaker 2: your first car is a stick shift because you can't

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Speaker 2: text and drive a stick shift. You know, none of

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Speaker 2: your friends can drive your car up. Insurance is cheaper,

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Speaker 2: so I mean, you know, those were moments of flattery,

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Speaker 2: cheers for tears, so, you know, teaching them to use

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Speaker 2: a little grit to drive a stick shift. Going in kindergarten,

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Speaker 2: my young guest, I mean, it's first day of school,

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Speaker 2: the first day of high school, the proms, the graduations.

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Speaker 2: I mean, one's one's out of college, one's going to

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Speaker 2: graduate from college this this May, and my baby just

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Speaker 2: went to college. You know, Being able to take them

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Speaker 2: to I mean you you name it, dance recitals, baseball games.

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Speaker 2: The list is long. And I think because of being

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Speaker 2: a part of this experience I have, all those milestones

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Speaker 2: are all more sweet to know that I am here

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Speaker 2: to see them.

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Speaker 3: Where are they in college? Are they Tennessee volunteers too?

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Speaker 2: Well? One is a Tennessee volunteer. One is a graduate

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Speaker 2: of Wake Forest in North Carolina, the senior this year.

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Speaker 2: He is a he's all of ball and my baby

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Speaker 2: is a Baylor Bear. He goes to school in Waco, Texas.

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Speaker 2: He's sick of bears. So they've got three different you know,

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Speaker 2: three different paths, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

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Speaker 1: I wish you could have seen Jim while you were talking.

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Speaker 1: He was clapping, he was cheering, He even had firework

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Speaker 1: behind him. At one point. He was just echoing everything

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Speaker 1: you were saying. We're going to hear more about what

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Speaker 1: this experience has done to change your life, how you've

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Speaker 1: lived differently. We're going to hear all about that when

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Speaker 1: we come back.

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Speaker 3: All right back here now. Jim Whittaker A Valley Collins,

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Speaker 3: two of the survivors of Flight fifteen forty nine, the

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Speaker 3: crash in the Hudson, the miracle on the Hudson. I

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Speaker 3: guess is what we should all be referring to it

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Speaker 3: as these days. That's how we know it. But all

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Speaker 3: one hundred and fifty five people on board that flight,

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Speaker 3: of course survived Captain Sully. It's been cool to hear

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Speaker 3: Valley here. She keeps referring to him by his full name, Sullenburger.

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Speaker 3: You have a different relationship well than the rest of

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Speaker 3: us do we call him Sully? But that's cool to hear. Jim,

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Speaker 3: let me ask you, what what was the pre miracle

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Speaker 3: on the Hudson, Jim Whittaker like, as opposed to the

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Speaker 3: guy we are sitting here talking to now.

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Speaker 4: Well, again, both versions are defective. However, the one before

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Speaker 4: and there's still now today. Long time lifelong road warrior,

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Speaker 4: thousands of flights, thousands of nights and hotels, traveled all

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Speaker 4: over the country, all over the world, and so the

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Speaker 4: whole experience of traveling, that is, and take off and

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Speaker 4: so forth and so on, that was as commonplace as

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Speaker 4: driving to work. But extinguishing characteristic that made this different.

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Speaker 4: And I've been on plane planes before where an engine

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Speaker 4: had gone out or something had occurred, but never had

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Speaker 4: I been on an airplane at takeoff that had gone

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Speaker 4: from full thrust to being a glider. No noise, no engine,

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Speaker 4: no nothing. And I just described that to say that.

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Speaker 4: Of course, for someone that had been on thousands and

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Speaker 4: thousands of flights, that was a new, immediate just and

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Speaker 4: immediate clicks in the back of your brain, like something's wrong.

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Speaker 4: This is a big problem, obviously, So it flash forward

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Speaker 4: to now. Since then fifteen years it's scary to say,

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Speaker 4: but not only hundreds, but I've continued doing the same thing.

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Speaker 4: But to the points that Valley made earlier, that of

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Speaker 4: all those life experiences that came there after, the graduations

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Speaker 4: and grandchildren and the events that were special, there is

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Speaker 4: an awareness to realize that I would not be having

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Speaker 4: this experience but for the hands of others and the

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Speaker 4: grace of God. And that is as we race through

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Speaker 4: all of our lives. That's probably something I know. I'm

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Speaker 4: often easy to forget about. Hey, I should pay attention

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Speaker 4: to be present in this moment, because it's a gift

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Speaker 4: that I'm here right now. We have I had thought

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Speaker 4: that twenty years ago. Of course not.

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Speaker 3: But we need to remind folks, you weren't supposed to

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Speaker 3: be on this plane. You were a standby passenger.

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Speaker 4: Is that right? Well, again, back to the defectiveness. I

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Speaker 4: made a lot of foolish choices in life, but one

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Speaker 4: of them was getting done early in Manhattan, running to

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Speaker 4: the airport again being the road warrior, trying to get

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Speaker 4: home early. Life's going to be great. Maybe I'll even

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Speaker 4: catch dinner. And that was a very interesting choice to

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Speaker 4: get all stand violists and get the window seat next

359
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Speaker 4: to the baby in the back.

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Speaker 2: Jim and I have some similarities in that it's interesting

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Speaker 2: that you put us on here together because I flew,

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Speaker 2: maybe not quite as much as Jim, but I flew

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Speaker 2: a lot with my job as well. But I always

364
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Speaker 2: flew Delta, so that's where I had all my you know,

365
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Speaker 2: platinum first class bump up, all my perks. But that's

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Speaker 2: this trip was like a last minute. So the US

367
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Speaker 2: Airways trip ticket was like eight hundred dollars left. So

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Speaker 2: I remember thinking, well, i'll save my company that money,

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Speaker 2: for go my little frequent flyer perks, and I'll go

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Speaker 2: US Airways today. So that's why I ended. So I

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Speaker 2: wasn't supposed to be on that flight either, epnically, that's

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Speaker 2: not normally, and that's how I ended up on the

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Speaker 2: last row with the empty seat that was there because

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Speaker 2: Jim had the baby in his rum. So it's now,

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Speaker 2: you know, and I think both of us kind of

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Speaker 2: have a faith based and you're like, well, why was

377
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Speaker 2: I there? What am I supposed to learn from that?

378
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Speaker 2: What am I supposed to take away from that? Because

379
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Speaker 2: there were passengers on our flight that took that flight

380
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Speaker 2: every week, you know, that was just their way home

381
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Speaker 2: to Charlotte every week, but not the case for me.

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Speaker 1: Do you think you were supposed to be on that flight? Now, Valley,

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Speaker 1: I know you said you're a woman of faith, and

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Speaker 1: do you think that it was something that was faded

385
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Speaker 1: to be? And you said you learned a lot. What

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Speaker 1: was the biggest thing you learned?

387
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Speaker 2: Well, first of all, I'm not small enough answer the

388
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Speaker 2: question of as if fate is I supposed to be there?

389
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Speaker 2: I'm not supposed to I have zero idea. I have

390
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Speaker 2: a lot of learnings I took away, probably the very

391
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Speaker 2: well two things. I'll say, after you sit in a

392
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Speaker 2: moment where you really think you're gonna die and then

393
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Speaker 2: all of a sudden you don't, there's a there's a

394
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Speaker 2: sense of life purpose and life responsibility, you just feel

395
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Speaker 2: that onus even greater. Okay, I'm kind of in the

396
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Speaker 2: bonus round of jeopardy. You know, how do I how

397
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Speaker 2: do I get this right and make the most of it.

398
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Speaker 2: So that's that's one of the things. Probably the biggest

399
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Speaker 2: learning I took away was just the power of perspective

400
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Speaker 2: that you know, no matter just not just what the

401
00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:45,320
Speaker 2: small stuff. As cliche as it sounds, you know, every

402
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Speaker 2: it's It's interesting when when I was before takeoff, I

403
00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:50,679
Speaker 2: was talking to the gentleman at the window and we

404
00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,160
Speaker 2: had this empty seat in between us, and they kept

405
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Speaker 2: telling us it's this full flight. Well you keep waiting

406
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Speaker 2: for who's the person that's going to PLoP down the

407
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Speaker 2: empty seat and from the gate, and there was still

408
00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:04,320
Speaker 2: this empty seat, and I looked at him, I'm like, well,

409
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Speaker 2: this must be our lucky day because here we've got

410
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Speaker 2: all this elbow room to Charlotte. Well, you know, little

411
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Speaker 2: did I know how lucky it was going to be

412
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Speaker 2: in next seven eight minutes. So so I think I'm

413
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Speaker 2: just trying to every day's a lucky day, even if

414
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Speaker 2: it's not a great day, I'm still just lucky. We're

415
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Speaker 2: all lucky to be.

416
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Speaker 3: Well, you say you're not. You know clearly you're smart

417
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Speaker 3: enough to answer the question. She did ask again what

418
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Speaker 3: you were trying to say? But you all helped me. Everybody,

419
00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:33,399
Speaker 3: I'm sitting here with Robes with a breast cancer scare

420
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Speaker 3: in her life to where she thought she was going

421
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Speaker 3: to die, and still quite frankly, every six months he's

422
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:41,119
Speaker 3: waiting on a report or going and you're still wondering

423
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Speaker 3: about how much time you have left Valley, Jim, both

424
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Speaker 3: of you all, you all weren't supposed to be on

425
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Speaker 3: the flight you got you stand by passenger here, you

426
00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:55,040
Speaker 3: ended up flying. You were trying to save some money

427
00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:59,320
Speaker 3: for your company, which I'd never recommend that, but still,

428
00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:02,320
Speaker 3: but for both of you all all, maybe all three

429
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Speaker 3: of you got to help me understand here, that's not

430
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Speaker 3: just who chalks that up to just coincidence. We've always

431
00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:10,960
Speaker 3: and I've gotten more into it that later in my

432
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Speaker 3: life about the universe giving you signs or follow there

433
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Speaker 3: are signs out there? What do you make Let me

434
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Speaker 3: start with you, Jim, since clearly you're you're going to

435
00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:21,879
Speaker 3: be smart enough to answer that. But but how do

436
00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:24,320
Speaker 3: you make sense of I'm not supposed to be here.

437
00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:26,840
Speaker 3: She's not supposed to be here, Robock. Even a lot

438
00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,640
Speaker 3: of people would argue, maybe not supposed to be here.

439
00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:31,760
Speaker 3: Her cancer was called earlier but we all are sitting

440
00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:36,520
Speaker 3: here now on this call, on this podcast together, Jim,

441
00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:38,560
Speaker 3: how do you or do you even try to make

442
00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:39,600
Speaker 3: sense of something like that.

443
00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:42,399
Speaker 4: I'm going to help you, teacher. I'm not going to

444
00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:46,720
Speaker 4: leave you hanging thanks to help you, I would say

445
00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:50,680
Speaker 4: to that, and trying to be serious, is my perspective

446
00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:54,000
Speaker 4: has changed in that I can't explain it either, and

447
00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:57,800
Speaker 4: probably nor can any of us about why did this happen?

448
00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:03,399
Speaker 4: Or what if that kind of is a lost cause.

449
00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:07,320
Speaker 4: But what we can say is, well, I am still here,

450
00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:13,280
Speaker 4: and what more purposeful, meaningful impact can I have on

451
00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:16,080
Speaker 4: the lives of those that are most close to me

452
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:20,120
Speaker 4: and depend upon me? And then the next concentric ring

453
00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:22,800
Speaker 4: out from that, and the next concentric ring out from that.

454
00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:26,360
Speaker 4: So for me, at least, what I've tried to be

455
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,400
Speaker 4: a better tried. I fail a lot, however, but I've

456
00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:33,399
Speaker 4: tried to be a better parent and spouse and brother

457
00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:37,080
Speaker 4: and son to my parents, So that trying to be

458
00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:40,159
Speaker 4: that better individual. But more importantly, I've also learned to

459
00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:44,119
Speaker 4: balance a good point as I've become much more, maybe

460
00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:48,040
Speaker 4: with age two, more influential as a mentor in other

461
00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:52,679
Speaker 4: folks lives that are going through challenging circumstances in their

462
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:57,560
Speaker 4: personal lives. I've found a lot of reward and satisfaction

463
00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:01,960
Speaker 4: in that and trying to help others navigate their circumstances,

464
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,280
Speaker 4: which seems maybe traumatic at the time. And I can

465
00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:12,480
Speaker 4: always say, yeah, but you weren't on a plane crash, correctct.

466
00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:15,320
Speaker 2: And I'm sure his family and friends, like my family

467
00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:17,480
Speaker 2: and friends, kind of get tired of me always putting

468
00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:20,040
Speaker 2: the perspective on. One of my dearest friends in National

469
00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:22,840
Speaker 2: college'll go. I said, Okay, do you want my real opinion?

470
00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:25,359
Speaker 2: Do you just want me to do you just want

471
00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:27,480
Speaker 2: me to side with you right now? Or do you

472
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:29,399
Speaker 2: want me to give you the perspective of And She's like, no,

473
00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:33,240
Speaker 2: I just want you to decide to me right now.

474
00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,760
Speaker 1: What's the biggest change that both of you made in

475
00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:41,240
Speaker 1: your life once you survived and got back home. I'll

476
00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,800
Speaker 1: start with you, Jim.

477
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,879
Speaker 4: Well, that's a bad start because I don't have a

478
00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:50,320
Speaker 4: great story to tell you. I couldn't say to you,

479
00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,399
Speaker 4: I wouldn't tell you some fabulous lie that says I

480
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:57,359
Speaker 4: was a new person the next day when I woke up,

481
00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:01,800
Speaker 4: I wasn't. I was still the same me. Sure as

482
00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:07,520
Speaker 4: I've already tried to describe. But it wasn't a Road

483
00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:10,119
Speaker 4: to Damascus moment and I somehow woke up and I

484
00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:14,040
Speaker 4: was some new human and had this different perspective online

485
00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,760
Speaker 4: I didn't. I was certainly more thankful and grateful, and

486
00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:20,800
Speaker 4: I am today and I am today, But I'm not

487
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:25,959
Speaker 4: some different human because I wasn't an inauthentic person before.

488
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,280
Speaker 4: I'm just more appreciative for the gifts that I've been

489
00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:33,720
Speaker 4: given now that I'm still here for obviously spending the

490
00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:37,520
Speaker 4: time week right now talking about something happened back then,

491
00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:40,640
Speaker 4: but I'm more grateful for the gifts that I've been

492
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:44,000
Speaker 4: given in my life and have been since then.

493
00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:47,680
Speaker 2: Pally like Jim, I wasn't all of a sudden the

494
00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:52,040
Speaker 2: different person. I was a pretty positive, friendly, pride be

495
00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,720
Speaker 2: kind person before this. In some ways I was not

496
00:26:55,920 --> 00:27:00,600
Speaker 2: as I've always been, very strong, very confident, a type

497
00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:05,800
Speaker 2: a leader type person, not very fearful. I would say,

498
00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:09,520
Speaker 2: I became a little more fearful, and you know, in

499
00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:13,720
Speaker 2: I'm much more myself like myself now fifteen years later

500
00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,280
Speaker 2: than I was let's say a month later or six

501
00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,439
Speaker 2: months later or a year later. You know, when I

502
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:21,240
Speaker 2: first got home, I thought, Okay, you know, I'm good.

503
00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:23,679
Speaker 2: Let's go right back to life. Let's, you know, have

504
00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:26,919
Speaker 2: these two busy careers with traveling and three small children.

505
00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:29,159
Speaker 2: And then about a month in, I was just I

506
00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:32,040
Speaker 2: couldn't do it. I could not keep all the balls

507
00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:34,120
Speaker 2: in the air. I couldn't. I'd be on a conference call,

508
00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:36,399
Speaker 2: I can remember what people said, I'd start typing an

509
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:39,879
Speaker 2: email and I'd forget my train of thought. I, you know,

510
00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:42,959
Speaker 2: should be so happy to be alive, but I just

511
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:46,600
Speaker 2: felt so sad. And you know, one of the challenges

512
00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:48,920
Speaker 2: I'll say for me, I can't speak for all the passengers,

513
00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:50,520
Speaker 2: but you know, it was the good news story of

514
00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:53,120
Speaker 2: the year. People. It was so cool, it was so exciting,

515
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:55,680
Speaker 2: it was so miraculous, and people were like, wow, wasn't

516
00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:59,240
Speaker 2: that amazing? You're like now, But it was also really scary,

517
00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:02,520
Speaker 2: and it was it was traumatic. I hate I know

518
00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:04,919
Speaker 2: that word gets used a lot, but it was. It

519
00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:07,080
Speaker 2: was traumatic and it was scary. So all of a sudden,

520
00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:09,919
Speaker 2: I became this person that was driving down the interstage like,

521
00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:11,960
Speaker 2: oh no, that Semi is gonna come over and they're

522
00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:13,680
Speaker 2: gonna crash into my car. We're I'm going to die,

523
00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:16,239
Speaker 2: or I wouldn't put something on my calendar for two

524
00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:18,440
Speaker 2: weeks later because I'm probably not gonna live two more weeks,

525
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:23,000
Speaker 2: you know. So the fragileness of life became I became

526
00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:26,359
Speaker 2: hyper focused. Or we we have a boat, our kids

527
00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,480
Speaker 2: water ski behind the boat, they'd fall. I'm like, get back,

528
00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:31,320
Speaker 2: get them because there's gonna boat comes gonna knock. You know,

529
00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:34,560
Speaker 2: it's gonna kill them. I mean, I just became very,

530
00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:39,560
Speaker 2: very aware of how fragile life is and how quickly

531
00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:44,320
Speaker 2: it can change. Now time has helped that neurosis, if

532
00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:47,400
Speaker 2: you want to call it, but I still lack a

533
00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:51,000
Speaker 2: little bit of the moxy confidence that I had. And

534
00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:53,800
Speaker 2: that's okay because I think it makes me appreciate and

535
00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:56,680
Speaker 2: be a little yeah, just being more appreciative for the

536
00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:58,840
Speaker 2: time that I have had.

537
00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,640
Speaker 3: You you use the word traumatic. Obviously, that's what I

538
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:05,600
Speaker 3: guess everybody on that plane would say they experienced a

539
00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:09,720
Speaker 3: traumatic experience. But you also said, like, over time or

540
00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:12,880
Speaker 3: immediately after, you had times where you felt so sad.

541
00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:14,200
Speaker 3: What was that about.

542
00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:21,280
Speaker 2: I think that's just one of the symptoms of PTSD.

543
00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:23,760
Speaker 2: You know, as I went through my therapy, I learned

544
00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:26,000
Speaker 2: that a lot of times it doesn't present immediately. It's

545
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,680
Speaker 2: you know, a month, six weeks, two months after, just

546
00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:32,040
Speaker 2: when the shock wears off. I don't want to speak

547
00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:34,080
Speaker 2: for Jim. Probably it was real easy for get on

548
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:36,240
Speaker 2: Hunt that plane that night because he was just still

549
00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,440
Speaker 2: in shock. We were all still in shot. My first

550
00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:40,600
Speaker 2: flight was five days later. That wasn't as hard as

551
00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:44,280
Speaker 2: the flights three months later, six months later. So I

552
00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:48,200
Speaker 2: just I I don't I don't know. It was just

553
00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:50,600
Speaker 2: I was just in shock. I mean, it just it

554
00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:54,000
Speaker 2: just took. It just takes. It just takes time. I

555
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:57,040
Speaker 2: wanted the I've spoken to audiences over the years about

556
00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:59,760
Speaker 2: this experience, and you going back to like why was

557
00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:03,280
Speaker 2: I there? While were we there? When I have when

558
00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:06,320
Speaker 2: I've had like a six three marine veteran come up

559
00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:08,240
Speaker 2: to me with tears in his eyes and say thank

560
00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:12,360
Speaker 2: you for talking about PTSD, thank you for putting it

561
00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:15,320
Speaker 2: out front. That's probably one of my moments that I

562
00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:19,280
Speaker 2: was like, maybe that's why I was there because I

563
00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:21,760
Speaker 2: think better now. I don't mean to go off on

564
00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:26,680
Speaker 2: a tangent but or get on a soapbox, but I

565
00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:29,680
Speaker 2: think even now, more than fifteen years ago, we talked

566
00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:33,440
Speaker 2: more about mental health than we did and just I

567
00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:36,640
Speaker 2: tell people, you know, I looked just fine on the outside.

568
00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:39,200
Speaker 2: I walked off that plane aside from being in soaking

569
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:42,240
Speaker 2: wet clothes, you know, nothing was broken. I wasn't bruised,

570
00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:44,880
Speaker 2: I didn't walk with a limp. I mean when my

571
00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:46,960
Speaker 2: husband looked at me, I look like the same old valley,

572
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:50,760
Speaker 2: but I was not the same old valley. And honestly,

573
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:53,120
Speaker 2: it took a little while for us, even as a couple,

574
00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:56,720
Speaker 2: to you know, figure out the new me if you will,

575
00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:58,760
Speaker 2: and I hope in some ways I'm a better version

576
00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:02,000
Speaker 2: of myself, not as good a version of myself as

577
00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:03,520
Speaker 2: before I've boarded that blot.

578
00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:08,800
Speaker 1: I really appreciate your your honesty and your transparency, because

579
00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:13,240
Speaker 1: when the unthinkable happens, when the thing that is almost

580
00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:18,800
Speaker 1: impossible actually happens to you, that fear is real, and

581
00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:22,640
Speaker 1: fear is a powerful thing. And I can't imagine not

582
00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:26,160
Speaker 1: being afraid after going through something like that. When people say, oh,

583
00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:30,000
Speaker 1: what are the chances, you can say, actually, if it's

584
00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:33,400
Speaker 1: less than one percent, if it happens to you, it's everything,

585
00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:37,360
Speaker 1: It's one hundred percent, right and living then your life

586
00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:42,000
Speaker 1: knowing that your greatest fear could actually happen is crippling

587
00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:44,680
Speaker 1: in moments. How do you get past that? Jim, did

588
00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:45,800
Speaker 1: you feel the same way at all?

589
00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:52,000
Speaker 4: Well, this is maybe a different tangent or not for

590
00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:54,520
Speaker 4: where you all thought the conversation would go. But I

591
00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:58,640
Speaker 4: have found this fascinating, yes, because of this. Afterward after

592
00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:02,800
Speaker 4: the crash, like Valley, I went to a number of

593
00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:05,960
Speaker 4: groups that wanted to hear this story, and they wanted

594
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:08,240
Speaker 4: to hear someone talk about it. So I had done

595
00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:10,240
Speaker 4: a fair amount of public speaking at work, so I

596
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:14,320
Speaker 4: went on the rubber Chicken circuit of cividans and quantises

597
00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:18,880
Speaker 4: and professional groups and all that stuff, and I talked

598
00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:23,280
Speaker 4: to a number number of groups. And every time, somewhere

599
00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:26,440
Speaker 4: in this talk, which was just conversational like we're doing now,

600
00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:28,560
Speaker 4: but I had a few props right, people would start

601
00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:32,440
Speaker 4: crying and I thought, man, I mean, I know I'm

602
00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:36,000
Speaker 4: a bad presenter, but this is painful. And there would

603
00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:38,320
Speaker 4: just be these people sitting there and these very small

604
00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:41,240
Speaker 4: intimate groups, you know, and they would just be crying.

605
00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:45,160
Speaker 4: And then afterward they would come up and they get

606
00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:48,160
Speaker 4: similar to what Valley described and say things like thank

607
00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:52,120
Speaker 4: you and I've always been so fearful this was going

608
00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:55,480
Speaker 4: to happen to me, this total consuming fear of flying,

609
00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:59,560
Speaker 4: to what you talked about earlier, Amy about fear is

610
00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:06,200
Speaker 4: this incredibly powerful ruling emotion in our lives about I

611
00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:08,880
Speaker 4: fear these things, and I've had these things happen to me.

612
00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:12,640
Speaker 4: And this is the whole experience of just retelling that

613
00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:17,520
Speaker 4: story to people seems to have unlocked their own feelings

614
00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,479
Speaker 4: of the things that they fear and been able to

615
00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:23,760
Speaker 4: give them a little bit of maybe not comfort, but

616
00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:26,960
Speaker 4: courage that they can survive whatever moment they are in now.

617
00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:30,480
Speaker 4: It's just been a fascinate That period of time was

618
00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:35,040
Speaker 4: fascinating to me, and to Valley's point, it probably helped

619
00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:39,160
Speaker 4: me too, unknowingly so kind of process those emotions in

620
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:41,960
Speaker 4: my subconscious minds, you know, just work through all of

621
00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:46,400
Speaker 4: that by contributing and being with other people and talking about.

622
00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:50,760
Speaker 1: The topic well, making people feel not alone. Knowing that

623
00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:55,440
Speaker 1: other people also can talk about their fears and face

624
00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:57,800
Speaker 1: them and acknowledge them is a huge gift that you've

625
00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:00,240
Speaker 1: given so many people. We're going to talk more with

626
00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:01,680
Speaker 1: Valley and Jim when we come back.

627
00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:08,359
Speaker 2: Hi.

628
00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:12,239
Speaker 5: I'm Kate Hudson and I'm Oliver Hudson and at last

629
00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:12,839
Speaker 5: I checked for.

630
00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:16,040
Speaker 6: Siblings and this is sibling revelry.

631
00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:20,040
Speaker 5: We're full blood siblings, the only full bloodling.

632
00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:21,919
Speaker 6: And our family well not in the world, I mean.

633
00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:22,720
Speaker 4: No, in the whole world.

634
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:25,960
Speaker 5: This is it, like no one anyway. We're back with

635
00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:28,200
Speaker 5: season four. I can't believe it's Yeah.

636
00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:32,399
Speaker 6: I'm so excited, bigger and better than ever. You might

637
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:36,680
Speaker 6: be asking yourself, what is sibling revelry?

638
00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:39,080
Speaker 5: Yeah, well we just made it up. There is no

639
00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:41,680
Speaker 5: sibling revelry. It's reveling in your sibling.

640
00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:44,719
Speaker 6: And it's fun because we've decided to open it up,

641
00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:48,040
Speaker 6: you know, to really like all kinds of different siblings.

642
00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:52,360
Speaker 6: And it's going to be an awesome season.

643
00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:56,640
Speaker 5: So listen to Sibling Revelry on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or.

644
00:34:56,640 --> 00:35:08,480
Speaker 1: Wherever you listen to paup God. Welcome back everyone. We're

645
00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:12,120
Speaker 1: talking to Jim Whittaker and Valley Collins, two of the

646
00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:16,040
Speaker 1: survivors of the Miracle on the Hudson, and we are

647
00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:18,840
Speaker 1: looking back not only what happened fifteen years ago, but

648
00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:22,440
Speaker 1: what that has led them to today and who they

649
00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:25,239
Speaker 1: are today because a near death experience. I mean it

650
00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:28,200
Speaker 1: affects people differently. I want to ask you, VALI would

651
00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:32,440
Speaker 1: you give the experience back if you could.

652
00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:35,600
Speaker 2: If I had my choice, I would not board that

653
00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:39,640
Speaker 2: plane again. I'm so thankful for what I've learned, what

654
00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:42,719
Speaker 2: I've taken from it, the gift of perspective and gratitude.

655
00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:47,680
Speaker 2: But I guess maybe giving me that sense of fear

656
00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:51,040
Speaker 2: that I'd never had before. I kind of enjoyed the

657
00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:54,399
Speaker 2: thirty seven years before. It is not not really being

658
00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:55,799
Speaker 2: scared of many things.

659
00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:57,600
Speaker 1: Other than Snake's I love it. You'd get it back,

660
00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:00,160
Speaker 1: how about you, Jim?

661
00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:05,480
Speaker 4: No, I would. I would relive it again. I had

662
00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:08,799
Speaker 4: the benefit of which is even weirder in not today's talk.

663
00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:11,879
Speaker 4: But I was on another aircraft that happened to catch

664
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:14,640
Speaker 4: on fire, so I was in I was a pro

665
00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:17,399
Speaker 4: by the time this rolled around. And the fact that

666
00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:20,160
Speaker 4: it is scary to go in the river. But if

667
00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:22,160
Speaker 4: you're in a small aircraft and there are only two

668
00:36:22,239 --> 00:36:24,879
Speaker 4: of you on it and it catches on fire, now

669
00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:27,000
Speaker 4: that is a sense of emergency.

670
00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:30,560
Speaker 3: Jim, you need to take some road trips. Brother, you

671
00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:34,000
Speaker 3: got you gotta stop flying if I want to plan.

672
00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:35,319
Speaker 2: You're on I'm getting off.

673
00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:38,680
Speaker 7: Oh this is no money, because I was on one

674
00:36:38,719 --> 00:36:41,960
Speaker 7: struck by lightning with an emergency landing before the Hudson,

675
00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:44,480
Speaker 7: and then the December of two thousand and nine, the

676
00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:46,800
Speaker 7: same year, I was on one that lost nose steering,

677
00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:50,239
Speaker 7: so we had to have the full emergency cabin preparedness,

678
00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:51,880
Speaker 7: emergency vehicles line.

679
00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:53,520
Speaker 2: And the runway. I mean, some people are like, well,

680
00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:55,160
Speaker 2: what are the chances I'm calling? Well, I've kind of

681
00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:58,560
Speaker 2: been in three incidents. Is it's just so funny that

682
00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:00,400
Speaker 2: we're booked on here at the same time, you know,

683
00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:03,960
Speaker 2: my mom's like, well, yeah, crazy.

684
00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:06,759
Speaker 1: And for the record, just to make it clear, you

685
00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:10,960
Speaker 1: all still happily and willingly board planes. Yes, in fact,

686
00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:12,440
Speaker 1: you just got off one recently.

687
00:37:13,239 --> 00:37:15,640
Speaker 2: I don't know about happily. I do it because I

688
00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:17,479
Speaker 2: want to go where I want to go. I don't

689
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:20,080
Speaker 2: love it. I'm never gonna love it like I did

690
00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:23,560
Speaker 2: before when I was just you know, naive. But it

691
00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:25,839
Speaker 2: is the safest way to travel. I do tell people

692
00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:27,640
Speaker 2: the most dangerous part of on air plane trip is

693
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:29,799
Speaker 2: the drive in your car to the airport. You know,

694
00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:32,319
Speaker 2: if we all heard about every fatal car wreck in

695
00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:34,160
Speaker 2: our country every day, none of us will get in

696
00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:36,880
Speaker 2: our car. It's just with plane crashes. When something happens,

697
00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:39,200
Speaker 2: it's a lot of people at once, and everybody hears

698
00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:40,040
Speaker 2: about every one of them.

699
00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:42,640
Speaker 3: Apparently, it's the safest way to travel unless your name

700
00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:44,520
Speaker 3: is Jim Whittaker or Valley Collins.

701
00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:47,919
Speaker 1: I want to ask y'all, did the Tom Hanks movie

702
00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:48,399
Speaker 1: get it right?

703
00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:51,560
Speaker 2: You know, the Tom Hanks movie, which I loved, the

704
00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:53,960
Speaker 2: movie Sully. Tom Hanks could read the phone book and

705
00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:56,920
Speaker 2: I would be entertained. So I thought the movie was great.

706
00:37:57,719 --> 00:38:01,799
Speaker 2: It's definitely from Sullenberger's active I don't think they got

707
00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:05,920
Speaker 2: the evacuation scene in the movie right personally. I mean

708
00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:07,440
Speaker 2: in the movie, and I haven't seen the movie in

709
00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:09,520
Speaker 2: a lot of years, but I remember that there's there

710
00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:11,880
Speaker 2: like here, have a blanket, it's cold out there, like

711
00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:14,480
Speaker 2: the flight attendants that, and it just it just wasn't

712
00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:17,279
Speaker 2: that way it was. It was chaotic, It was a

713
00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:19,680
Speaker 2: lot of water, it was a lot of I mean,

714
00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:21,319
Speaker 2: you're how chaotic it is trying to get off the

715
00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:23,640
Speaker 2: plane when you're parked at the gate, So you know,

716
00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:26,480
Speaker 2: you can imagine. So that's the only part of the movie.

717
00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:28,040
Speaker 2: If I was going to take issue with but it

718
00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:30,239
Speaker 2: didn't upset me. I thought it was a great It

719
00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:34,279
Speaker 2: was a great fielm but you jim right it was.

720
00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:38,800
Speaker 4: It was definitely a Hollywood version of a feel good moment,

721
00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:42,160
Speaker 4: for sure, and one takes liberties when you're making a

722
00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:45,239
Speaker 4: Hollywood movie. There were the other movies as jule Me,

723
00:38:45,600 --> 00:38:48,399
Speaker 4: the docu drama, and the documentary Class. There have been

724
00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:52,160
Speaker 4: several other ones made, but the Hollywood version I think

725
00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:56,640
Speaker 4: was more centered on entertainment because Valley is exactly right

726
00:38:57,040 --> 00:38:59,000
Speaker 4: as we were talking about earlier. There's just no way

727
00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:01,879
Speaker 4: to one, it wouldn't be entertainment, it'd be a horror show.

728
00:39:02,040 --> 00:39:04,680
Speaker 4: And then two, there's just no way to capture how

729
00:39:04,719 --> 00:39:08,600
Speaker 4: a raw and nasty All of that was at the

730
00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:12,400
Speaker 4: time that it was occurring, before everyone was off the

731
00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:16,279
Speaker 4: airplane and on water taxis, and the event was kind

732
00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:19,359
Speaker 4: of passed right that first that period of time in there,

733
00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:23,160
Speaker 4: in the crash sequence and the rescue, that was pretty ugly, right.

734
00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:25,239
Speaker 1: I can't I cannot even imagine.

735
00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:29,759
Speaker 2: My scariest moment and the whole event was after we

736
00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:32,120
Speaker 2: landed and I went to the galley and there was

737
00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:34,880
Speaker 2: a hole in the APU fell off the tail of

738
00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:36,840
Speaker 2: the plane, and you know, we couldn't get out the

739
00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:39,720
Speaker 2: back exits and the water was rushing in to about

740
00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:43,040
Speaker 2: my shoulder level, and thinking I was going to drown.

741
00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:47,239
Speaker 2: That was really my scariest moment, was just being in

742
00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:51,160
Speaker 2: that galley with that cold water and realizing we're not

743
00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:53,880
Speaker 2: getting out the back and people are still trying to

744
00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:56,080
Speaker 2: come to the back, you know, and I'm thinking this

745
00:39:56,200 --> 00:39:58,680
Speaker 2: this gentleman's gonna mow me over, you know, trying to

746
00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:02,120
Speaker 2: get people turned around to move towards the wings. So

747
00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:05,560
Speaker 2: that was really, for me, my scariest moment.

748
00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:08,360
Speaker 1: Yeah, just hearing you describe that, you just get chills

749
00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:11,880
Speaker 1: from head to toe. That is just worst case scenario,

750
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,160
Speaker 1: thinking you're trapped in this plane and the water's rushing

751
00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:18,120
Speaker 1: and I'm curious, fifteen years has passed. Has there been

752
00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:20,160
Speaker 1: a day where you haven't thought about it?

753
00:40:20,239 --> 00:40:24,319
Speaker 2: Valley? Oh? Sure, Yeah, there have been plenty of days

754
00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:27,280
Speaker 2: where I have not where I have not thought about it. Especially,

755
00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:29,360
Speaker 2: like I said, time helped. You know, in the first

756
00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:31,640
Speaker 2: year or two years, No, there probably wasn't a day

757
00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:34,080
Speaker 2: I didn't think about it. But as time has gone on.

758
00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:36,640
Speaker 2: But if I do catch myself in a moment of

759
00:40:36,719 --> 00:40:38,680
Speaker 2: you know, kind of sweating the small stuff or getting

760
00:40:38,719 --> 00:40:41,760
Speaker 2: annoying because you know, my boys left all their underwear

761
00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:43,840
Speaker 2: all over the floor or something. You know, we'll be like,

762
00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:45,960
Speaker 2: all right, I'm still the moms here that gets to

763
00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:48,800
Speaker 2: pick up the dirty underwear. And that's what life's about,

764
00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:51,520
Speaker 2: is the real stuff. And I'm just happy I've been

765
00:40:51,560 --> 00:40:54,080
Speaker 2: here to enjoy the real stuff. But I don't think

766
00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:54,879
Speaker 2: about it every day.

767
00:40:55,600 --> 00:40:58,399
Speaker 3: Jim, speaking on the real stuff, Why does it take?

768
00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:01,279
Speaker 3: You know, I speak to people all out there. We've

769
00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:03,040
Speaker 3: all known people in our lives and you all are

770
00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:05,840
Speaker 3: two examples as well. They go through something traumatic and

771
00:41:05,880 --> 00:41:08,840
Speaker 3: then they make a change in their life. People have something,

772
00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:10,880
Speaker 3: they hit rock bottom and they make a change in

773
00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:13,640
Speaker 3: their life. Something has to happen. Can you speak to

774
00:41:13,719 --> 00:41:17,879
Speaker 3: Jim to people and they all have their own experiences,

775
00:41:17,920 --> 00:41:20,880
Speaker 3: of course, but how would you encourage people to not

776
00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:23,799
Speaker 3: wait for that moment. Don't wait until you have a

777
00:41:23,840 --> 00:41:26,880
Speaker 3: near death experience, don't wait until you hit rock bottom.

778
00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:30,160
Speaker 3: Today is a day you can start to appreciate more

779
00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:33,680
Speaker 3: and love more and be kinder and do what Valley says,

780
00:41:33,719 --> 00:41:35,880
Speaker 3: you know, don't sweat the small stuff. What would be

781
00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:38,680
Speaker 3: your words of encouragement for folks to not have to

782
00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:42,080
Speaker 3: have a plane craw a literal plane crash before they

783
00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:42,640
Speaker 3: make changes.

784
00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:51,600
Speaker 4: Man, I'll take an easier question for one hundred. That

785
00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:55,200
Speaker 4: is a heavy one. I don't know that I know

786
00:41:55,560 --> 00:42:00,799
Speaker 4: the right answer, but what you just described resonates with

787
00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:04,560
Speaker 4: me too at a personal level, because that bouncing on

788
00:42:04,600 --> 00:42:07,279
Speaker 4: the bottom happens for a lot of us. Whether you

789
00:42:07,400 --> 00:42:11,640
Speaker 4: have problems with substance abuse or mental illness or whatever

790
00:42:11,640 --> 00:42:14,800
Speaker 4: those things are, the bouncing on the bottom is often

791
00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:17,520
Speaker 4: the path that many of us have to go through

792
00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:20,640
Speaker 4: because you don't know which way is up until you

793
00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:25,320
Speaker 4: found the bottom. So to expect someone, or to hope

794
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:28,160
Speaker 4: for someone, or to desire for someone, to be able

795
00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:30,800
Speaker 4: to be self aware enough to know that, hey, man,

796
00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:34,440
Speaker 4: this is not working, this is not the best you.

797
00:42:35,680 --> 00:42:40,000
Speaker 4: Perhaps that is such a giant decision that I find

798
00:42:40,040 --> 00:42:44,120
Speaker 4: that most people don't make that decision because it requires

799
00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:47,319
Speaker 4: so much courage and it's going to be painful most likely.

800
00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:51,839
Speaker 4: So the continuation of doing nothing is usually easier than

801
00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:55,920
Speaker 4: doing something. And that's why that bouncing off the bottom

802
00:42:55,960 --> 00:42:58,239
Speaker 4: seems to work for some folks. I have found in

803
00:42:58,280 --> 00:43:02,080
Speaker 4: my life at least. That is a really, really tough question.

804
00:43:02,239 --> 00:43:04,600
Speaker 4: But back to being able to talk to folks, is

805
00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:07,920
Speaker 4: I have found it incredibly rewarding to be talking to

806
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:11,440
Speaker 4: others who have their own set of life problems and

807
00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:16,080
Speaker 4: they at least can get some type of positive reflection

808
00:43:16,239 --> 00:43:18,719
Speaker 4: from the fact that, oh, well, wow, that happened to you,

809
00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:20,880
Speaker 4: and here you still are and you seem to be

810
00:43:21,160 --> 00:43:25,279
Speaker 4: marginally okay. Maybe my circumstance isn't so bad. Maybe I

811
00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:29,160
Speaker 4: could make better choices, maybe I will choose to do

812
00:43:29,719 --> 00:43:31,920
Speaker 4: That's been an incredibly powerful for me.

813
00:43:32,239 --> 00:43:34,319
Speaker 1: I love that. Do you all do anything special to

814
00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:36,480
Speaker 1: honor this day, Valley?

815
00:43:36,719 --> 00:43:39,399
Speaker 2: Not really? I mean on the ant like the one

816
00:43:39,440 --> 00:43:42,279
Speaker 2: year anniversary, the five year anniversary, the ten year anniversary.

817
00:43:42,360 --> 00:43:42,680
Speaker 3: I went.

818
00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:46,640
Speaker 2: I went to those events. It's always it's amazing to

819
00:43:46,640 --> 00:43:48,719
Speaker 2: me how many of my friends and family I'll get

820
00:43:48,760 --> 00:43:52,200
Speaker 2: more text messages, emails on this day than I will

821
00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:56,120
Speaker 2: on my birthday. It's kind of it's kind of crazy,

822
00:43:56,280 --> 00:44:00,920
Speaker 2: so I always acknowledge it. Do I have a specific tradition, No,

823
00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:04,239
Speaker 2: I just keep living that day whatever it brings. I mean,

824
00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:06,480
Speaker 2: in fact, this year, on the fifteenth anniversary, one of

825
00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:08,759
Speaker 2: the changes I made in not really a change I

826
00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:11,520
Speaker 2: made in my life, but I did quit working full

827
00:44:11,560 --> 00:44:16,000
Speaker 2: time a few few months after the experience, went part

828
00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:18,359
Speaker 2: time and then quit working all together just to raise

829
00:44:18,360 --> 00:44:21,200
Speaker 2: my family. But I started to participate more in nonprofits

830
00:44:21,280 --> 00:44:23,640
Speaker 2: and trying to help other people, because I do think

831
00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:26,160
Speaker 2: when you're struggling yourself, what makes you feel better than

832
00:44:26,200 --> 00:44:28,560
Speaker 2: to try to help somebody else who's less fortunate than

833
00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:32,000
Speaker 2: you are. And so I am the chair of a

834
00:44:32,120 --> 00:44:36,080
Speaker 2: nonprofit that works with Mount Irshed babies in Uganda and

835
00:44:37,520 --> 00:44:42,919
Speaker 2: on today today is our board strategic planning retreat. So

836
00:44:43,160 --> 00:44:45,799
Speaker 2: I'm with some people. They're very like minded with me

837
00:44:45,920 --> 00:44:48,759
Speaker 2: with helping those that are less fortunate. So I'm going

838
00:44:48,840 --> 00:44:53,040
Speaker 2: to market today trying to in some small, small way

839
00:44:53,600 --> 00:44:56,759
Speaker 2: help someone that is a whole lot worse off than

840
00:44:56,800 --> 00:44:57,040
Speaker 2: I am.

841
00:44:57,280 --> 00:44:58,439
Speaker 3: Jim, you mark the day as well.

842
00:44:58,960 --> 00:45:01,640
Speaker 4: My answer is much more practical than balance, which is

843
00:45:01,680 --> 00:45:03,799
Speaker 4: one of the many reasons why I'm so fond of.

844
00:45:04,040 --> 00:45:06,080
Speaker 4: But I'm going to the airport on Monday because that's

845
00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:06,720
Speaker 4: where I belong.

846
00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:11,719
Speaker 3: You're you're flying on the anniversary day, Yeah, Valley, have

847
00:45:11,719 --> 00:45:14,279
Speaker 3: you done that at all? Flown on the anniversary day?

848
00:45:14,360 --> 00:45:16,160
Speaker 3: Any of the past fifteen years.

849
00:45:16,480 --> 00:45:18,960
Speaker 2: Yes, I have flown on the anniversary date. I did

850
00:45:19,120 --> 00:45:21,719
Speaker 2: after one of our I did I have flown on

851
00:45:21,760 --> 00:45:22,919
Speaker 2: the anniversary date.

852
00:45:23,040 --> 00:45:25,920
Speaker 3: Yes, I wouldn't expect I expected from defective Jim, but

853
00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:27,520
Speaker 3: I wasn't expecting you Valley.

854
00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:31,000
Speaker 2: Speaking of only down at one time, I'm only doing all.

855
00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:33,520
Speaker 2: We're taking a bus to the retreat.

856
00:45:33,719 --> 00:45:41,680
Speaker 1: So well, Jim Valley, thank you so much for joining us.

857
00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:44,000
Speaker 1: It has been incredible to be able to talk to

858
00:45:44,000 --> 00:45:46,800
Speaker 1: you all about what you went through, how far you've come,

859
00:45:47,360 --> 00:45:50,120
Speaker 1: and you have a long, beautiful life to look forward to,

860
00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:52,720
Speaker 1: and thanks for inspiring us along the way. I appreciate

861
00:45:52,760 --> 00:45:57,120
Speaker 1: how really you kept it, how down to earth are

862
00:45:57,160 --> 00:45:58,799
Speaker 1: you're not trying to make it be anything more than

863
00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:01,160
Speaker 1: what it is. And the lessons you learned along the way.

864
00:46:01,160 --> 00:46:05,480
Speaker 1: We appreciate it, and we took notes, and thank you all.

865
00:46:05,680 --> 00:46:07,520
Speaker 1: And I don't know do you do you say happy

866
00:46:07,520 --> 00:46:09,160
Speaker 1: anniversary on an anniversary like this?

867
00:46:09,280 --> 00:46:09,680
Speaker 2: I don't know.

868
00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:13,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, so happy anniversary old.

869
00:46:13,080 --> 00:46:16,239
Speaker 2: An anniversary fifteen years on the fifteenth.

870
00:46:15,800 --> 00:46:20,719
Speaker 1: So there you go. Well, happy anniversary, y'all, and thank

871
00:46:20,719 --> 00:46:21,600
Speaker 1: you for being with us.

872
00:46:22,760 --> 00:46:25,040
Speaker 2: Thank you bye, all the best.

873
00:46:25,400 --> 00:46:28,680
Speaker 3: Thank you so much. Yeah, hey, everybody, they're saying by

874
00:46:28,760 --> 00:46:31,839
Speaker 3: each other there. You can of course continue to follow

875
00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:35,400
Speaker 3: the show here on Instagram, at Amy and TJ podcast.

876
00:46:36,440 --> 00:46:38,000
Speaker 3: That was a great one. It's great to talk to

877
00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:40,000
Speaker 3: folks like that who have that type of respective and

878
00:46:40,040 --> 00:46:42,040
Speaker 3: can give us all a little bit. I'm still fascinated.

879
00:46:42,400 --> 00:46:46,040
Speaker 3: I can imagine her husband the text my plane is crashing,

880
00:46:46,600 --> 00:46:49,239
Speaker 3: she says. She sent him that message as they were

881
00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:50,560
Speaker 3: going out. She had three minutes to do it. I

882
00:46:50,600 --> 00:46:53,239
Speaker 3: guess I can imagine getting that type of message from you.

883
00:46:54,360 --> 00:46:56,560
Speaker 1: I hope to never send one like that, TEJ. Yeah,

884
00:46:56,560 --> 00:46:58,719
Speaker 1: that'll be on my list of goals things not to do.

885
00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:12,040
Speaker 3: Put a sweet emoji to it, Maybe it'll light it.