It’s been 7 years since it came on the news of the heroic landing of a jet plane into the Hudson River by Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and yet people still remember.
To recap as previously reported by NBC News on January 15, 2009, the US Airways plane had just taken off from Upstate New York when a flock of birds reportedly ran into a jet line causing both engines to go out. In an effort to save the 155 people on board the jetliner, Captain Sully maneuvered the plane safely down using the Hudson River to land with enough time to rescue all passengers with very few mild injuries.
Sully had instantly been made a hero and celebrity with that one event and people couldn’t stop thinking about it, including a local BMI songwriter named Peter Prince.
Three days after, Prince listened to the cockpit recording that was now public domain as news media outlets had played them frequently and he said, he could feel the strength of the man (Sully) as he was communicating with the airport’s control in LaGuardia causing him (Prince) to tear up emotionally.
From this Prince wrote a song called, “Softly Down”. Listen here to the two versions sung by Colene Walters and Nashville Vocalist, Alan Johnson.
Both versions are currently available for purchase via CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify.
And stay tuned, Warner Brothers are currently working on a movie under the direction of Clint Eastwood and starring Tom Hanks as “Sully“. The movie is set to be released September 9, 2016.