Considering that most delegates at the IBA spend a fair proportion of their working lives at 35,000 feet, the organisation seems to have an unhealthy obsession with plane crashes. Last year in Mexico City the motivational speaker was Nando Parrado, hero of the 1972 Andes crash in which survivors were forced to eat the bodies of those who had died.
This year’s choice? Jeff Skiles, the veteran first officer of US Airways Flight 1549, which in 2009 landed in the Hudson River following a catastrophic bird strike. After a complete loss of power at 2,800 feet, it was Skiles’ job to work methodically through the checklist for restarting the engines while captain Chesley Sullenberger concentrated on flying.
Skiles said: ‘We were prepared and trained because of the leadership shown at all levels of the organisation, and because of the willingness of the organisation to look inward and question what we do and continuously make changes to meet developing threats.’
An inspirational tale of teamwork and professionalism, ‘but it didn’t fill me with confidence about the flight home’, one UK delegate told Obiter.
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