Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III (January 23th, 1951 - ) is an American retired airline captain. He is best known for his role in a 2009 forced water landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River off Manhattan after both engines were disabled by a bird strike; all 155 people aboard survived. Sullenberger is a speaker on aviation safety and has helped develop new protocols for airline safety. He served as the co-chairman, along with first officer Jeffrey Skiles, of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)'s Young Eagles youth introduction-to-aviation program from 2009 to 2013.
Sullenberger retired from US Airways after 30 years as a commercial pilot on March 3rd, 2010. In May of the following year, he was hired by CBS News as an Aviation and Safety Expert.
Sullenberger is the co-author, with Jeffrey Zaslow, of the New York Times bestseller Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters, a memoir of his life and of the events surrounding Flight 1549, published in 2009 by HarperCollins. His second book, Making a Difference: Stories of Vision and Courage from America's Leaders, was published in May 2012. He was ranked second in Time's Top 100 Most Influential Heroes and Icons of 2009, after Michelle Obama.
In 2016, Clint Eastwood directed Sully, a film adaptation of Flight 1549 and the events surrounding it. Sullenberger was portrayed by Tom Hanks in the film.
Early life[]
Chesley Sullenberger was born in Denison, Texas. His father was a descendant of Swiss-German immigrants named Sollenberger. He has one sister, Mary. The street on which he grew up in Denison was named after his mother's family. According to his sister, Sullenberger built model planes and aircraft carriers during his childhood, and says he became interested in flying after seeing military jets from an Air Force base near his house. He went to school in Denison, and was consistently on the 99th percentile in every academic category.[9]
At the age of 12, his IQ was deemed high enough to join Mensa International. In high school, he was the president of the Latin club, a first chair flutist, and an honor student.[10] He was an active member of the Waples Memorial United Methodist Church in Denison. He graduated from Denison High School in 1969, near the top of his class of about 350. At 16, Sullenberger learned to fly in an Aeronca 7DC from a private airstrip near his home. He said the training he received from a local flight instructor influenced his aviation career for the rest of his life.
Post-secondary education[]
Sullenberger earned a Bachelor of Science from the United States Air Force Academy. He also earned a master's degree in industrial psychology from Purdue University in 1973 and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Northern Colorado in 1979.