Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger gets all the credit for landing a plane in the Hudson River in 2009, thereby saving everyone on board — but are the true heroes aughts nu metal group Evanescence? That just might be the case, according to a compelling new theory introduced by comedian Nathan Fielder in his new series The Rehearsal.
Warning: this article contains spoilers about the second season of The Rehearsal.
The Rehearsal's second season focuses on aviation safety, and for the third episode, which aired this past weekend (May 4), Fielder did a close reading of Sully's 2009 memoir Highest Duty to look for inspiration.
Fielder noted that Sullenberger got an iPod in the early 2000s, shortly after they were introduced. He seemed to become quite fond of the device, and his book notes that he loves Sheryl Crow's song "Soak Up the Sun," which apparently reminds him of his late father.
His favourite band is Evanescence, and this discovery led Fielder to hatch a wild theory. In the cockpit transcript from Sully's flight, there's a 23-second period of silence where Sully doesn't speak at all, despite air traffic control trying to communicate with him during a critical moment. Here's Fielder's theory:
Without cockpit video, we can't be sure what Sully was doing during those mysterious 23 seconds before he asked his first officer for help. But after the crash, Sully's iPod was discovered submerged in the flooded cockpit, which he confirms in his book. It might be nothing, or just a hunch I have from living as him for so long — but the chorus to Evanescence's "Bring Me to Life" just happens to be exactly 23 seconds long.
Did Sully put in his earbuds and blast "Bring Me to Life" before landing in the Hudson? We're convinced! Listen to "Bring Me to Life" below, and try to imagine how this might have woken Sully up inside.
Read our 10/10 review of The Rehearsal's second season here.