Hero of the Hudson: Lessons from Risk Research
by Casondra Sobieralski

A plane takes off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport at 3:26 p.m. Soon after, an improbable double engine failure occurs when the Airbus A320 hits a flock of birds. The plane goes down. The pilot, Danville resident Captain Chelsey B. “Sully” Sullenberger III, glides the plane safely onto the Hudson River. The passengers and crew emerge in quick and orderly fashion. Police, fire and Coast Guard rescue teams whisk them on to boats as the plane slowly sinks into the frigid water.

We all know this true story, which headlined all over the country on January 15, 2009. However, to Karlene Roberts, Co-Director of Berkeley’s Center for Catastrophic Risk Management (CCRM) and Professor of Organizational Behavior and Industrial Relations at Haas School of Business, this story is more than just sensational; it highlights why the work that CCRM does regarding disaster preparedness and developing high reliability organizations (HROs) is so important.

Professor Roberts knows Captain Sullenberger. He approached her approximately two years ago because he wanted to be a research affiliate with CCRM. As a pilot and founder of a Bay Area aviation consulting firm, “Sully” was interested in the Center’s work in reliability enhancement and the study of risk.

Roberts says that Sullenberger has exemplary skill as a certified glider pilot with Air Force Academy Training. He was flying sound and presumably well-maintained aviation equipment. She says that his study of and training in disaster preparedness, though, was likley a significant contributing factor in the survival of US Airway’s flight 1549’s 155 passengers. Researching what went well, why, and how can provide insights that spare lives in the future.

CCRM studies safety, infrastructure, and preparedness in accidents and natural disasters. Roberts says that it is the job of CCRM to identify and reduce factors that can be attributed to “bad luck.” They strive to strengthen HROs to create skillfully trained and efficient teams to deal with potential disasters. HROs study organizations and systems of organizations in which errors can have catastrophic consequences. Such organizations include some hospitals, the US Navy Carrier Aviation Program, the commercial aviation industry, some financial institutions and some wildlife firefighting crews.

CCRM is a team of scholars from areas as diverse as economics, law, civil engineering, management and geographic information. This interdisciplinary approach, as well as the center’s portfolio of research projects, makes CCRM unique. The interdisciplinary approach is also why CCRM locates itself in the Institute of Business and Economics Research rather than in a specific academic department. Roberts says that IBER has a wider scope than any single department, and thus CCRM can avoid being pigeon holed into a single identity, avoid being considered solely an engineering discipline, for example.

As with other research from UC Berkeley that informs public policy, CCRM looks forward to more policy officials coming to understand the value of the work they do. Roberts points to an excerpt from the Transition Committee’s Public Briefing Book for President Obama which recommends the formation of an HRO Institute. As policy makers adopt such recommendations, Berkeley will be leading the way towards public policy solutions in yet another area of scholarship.

Above photo: Captain Chelsey B. Sullenberger III. Photo courtesy of Safety Reliability Methods, Inc.