About this talk:
Ric Elias had a front-row seat on Flight 1549, the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009. What went through his mind as the doomed plane went down? At TED, he tells his story publicly for the first time.
"I had a unique seat that day; I was sitting in 1D and I was the only one who could talk to the flight attendants.
Two minutes later, 3 things happened at the same time. The pilot lines up the plane with the Hudson River. That's usually not the route. He turns off the engines. Now imagine being in a plane with no sound. And then he says three words, the most unemotional words I've ever heard: "Brace for impact"
I didn't have to talk to the flight attendant anymore.
I wanna share with you three things I learned about myself that day."
Listen for what he's changed about his life as a result. It's a neat variation on other similar stories.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
