Keynote Speaker
Jeff Skiles
Co-Pilot of U.S. Airways Flight 1549
“The Miracle on the Hudson”
sponsored by:
On a frigid January afternoon, US Airways Flight 1549 struck a flock of geese just after takeoff, causing both engines to fail. With no runway within reach, Captain Chesley Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles made the split-second decision to land safely on the Hudson River—saving all 155 people on board.
In his keynote, Jeff Skiles shares powerful lessons on leadership under pressure, teamwork, preparation, and decision-making in high-stakes moments, delivered with humor and compelling firsthand insight from the “Miracle on the Hudson.”
“No terrible thoughts went through my head, none at all. I didn’t worry that I might not live through this—and no pilot would.
Unless the situation is completely out of your control, there’s always something you can do.”