IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING

Captain Behnam achieved the impossible on February 13th, 2018–saving 381 souls from a
watery grave—because he truly believes that anything is possible. His life story will inspire you
to believe the same.

We are reminded that we each have a purpose, what we were born to be, and will be inspired to
find that purpose because of Captain Christopher Behnam.

RESISTING RESIGNATION

One of the most hazardous attitudes in aviation, and in life, is resignation or giving up when
things go wrong.

What will we do, what will our organizations do, when it feels like we are going down in flames?

When it feels like an inevitable disaster?

Christopher teaches us how to protect ourselves, and our teams, from the hazardous attitude of
resignation:

• Have a deep purpose.
• Focus on those you serve.
• Everything has a balance point.
• Visualize the outcomes you seek.

Life and business are not always smooth sailing. There are times to come that will define our
character and test our resolve. Christopher will prepare you for these times.

​

At noon local time 200 miles from Honolulu, a 777 Jet engine—large enough to fit a Boeing 737
fuselage inside its massive frame—suffered a catastrophic engine failure.

 

It shed over a thousand pounds of material into the sky when an undetected crack in the
fan-blade broke off and destroyed the engine.

 

The dislodged blade impacted the airframe but missed a window by four inches, thus avoiding
decompression which would have been deadly at that altitude.

 

The shrapnel of the engine cowling somehow missed striking the tail (which would have
demolished it) and the engine was shut down only moments before it exploded (which would
have destroyed the right wing).

 

The Coast Guard calculated that the trajectory of the airplane would place it in the Pacific
Ocean, 20 miles off the coast of Oahu, in 30 foot winter swell.

 

Nothing was ideal, the aircraft creaked with the eerie sound of twisting metal, like a sky-scraper
ready to collapse.

 

The sound was deafening, and the engine instruments could not be read as the airplane was
shaking so violently.

Christopher pushed through the terror and focused on the task at hand as he descended into
the darkness of a thick cloud.

 

Now, with no visual reference on land or sea, he descended below 33,000 feet and would not
emerge until just 2,000 feet over the Island of Oahu.

 

When he did, they were directly over Honolulu International and he greased the landing to
thunderous applause.

Christopher found the plane’s balance point among the chaos and the shock. He described his
arms becoming her wings, his feet becoming her landing gear. He visualized the landing over
and over in his mind, willing it to be.

He manifested:

• Success
• Triumph
• Victory

It was all outside of any performance envelope ever encountered in modern aviation. However,
this was a man who insisted on achieving successful landings while simulating both-engines-out
/ instruments-out at 5,000 feet.

He might be the only pilot at his airline who insisted on doing barrel-rolls after his simulator
check-rides each year— all to fine-tune his stick and rudder skills.

 

This was a man who, when asked by United why they should hire an immigrant, replied:

 

“My dream has been to be an airline pilot since my father took me to the airport to see a Pan
Am 747 take-off when I was nine. The desire to become an airline pilot was planted in me then,
and if you hire me I will be United Airlines’ best pilot.”

 

After landing safely in Honolulu, he shook the hands of many of his passengers, looked into
their tear filled eyes, and personally thanked each of them for their courage.

 

Forty minutes earlier, a single thought had chilled him to the core like a bucket of ice water:
“These souls depend on me, I cannot betray their trust.”

 

CAPTAIN BEHNAM CAN HELP YOUR TEAM SUCCEED IN BUSINESS

 

Christopher shares the fundamentals that helped lead his team to success on the flight deck of
an uncontrollable 777 during a catastrophic engine failure.

 

Christopher is uniquely qualified in the fundamentals of leadership, teamwork, succeeding under
pressure, reducing errors, and overcoming obstacles.

 

His highly popular leadership keynote will challenge, inform, and inspire your team to move to
higher levels of performance.

 

He offers bottom-line expertise with clear, realistic takeaway items for audiences that can
produce both short-term and life-changing results.

​

Christopher sparks engagement, enables change, and enriches lives - to move people, teams, and organizations forward in the right direction.​​