Sullenberger worked for
US Airways and its predecessor airlines from 1980 until 2010. (
Pacific Southwest Airlines was acquired by US Air, later US Airways, in 1988.) He holds an
airline transport pilot certificate for single and multi-engine airplanes, a
commercial pilot license rating in
gliders, and a
flight instructor certificate for airplanes (single, multi-engine, and instrument) and gliders. In total, he has more than 50 years and 20,000 hours of flying experience. In 2007, He has been involved in a number of accident investigations conducted by the USAF and the
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), such as
Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 and
USAir Flight 1493. He served as an instructor,
Air Line Pilots Association local air safety chairman, accident investigator, and national technical committee member. His safety work for ALPA led to the development of a
Federal Aviation Administration advisory circular. Working with
NASA scientists, he coauthored a paper on error-inducing contexts in aviation. Sullenberger was active with his
union, serving as chairman of a safety committee within the
Air Line Pilots Association.
US Airways Flight 1549 afloat in the Hudson River On January 15, 2009, Sullenberger was the captain of
US Airways Flight 1549, an
Airbus A320 taking off from
LaGuardia Airport in
New York City bound for
Charlotte Douglas International Airport in
North Carolina. Shortly after takeoff, the plane
struck a flock of
Canada geese and lost power in both engines. Sullenberger was the last to leave the aircraft, after twice making sweeps through the cabin to make sure all passengers and crew had evacuated. Sullenberger, described by friends as "shy and reticent", was noted for his poise and calm during the crisis; New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg dubbed him "Captain Cool". Nonetheless, Sullenberger suffered symptoms of
post-traumatic stress disorder in subsequent weeks, including sleeplessness and flashbacks. He said that the moments before the landing were "the worst sickening, pit-of-your-stomach, falling-through-the-floor feeling" that he had ever experienced. He also said, "One way of looking at this might be that for 42 years, I've been making small, regular deposits in this bank of experience, education and training. And on January 15, the balance was sufficient so that I could make a very large withdrawal." The National Transportation Safety Board ruled that landing on the river was the correct decision instead of attempting a return to LaGuardia Airport because the normal procedures for engine loss are designed for cruising altitudes, not immediately after takeoff. Simulations performed at the
Airbus Training Centre Europe in
Toulouse showed that Flight 1549 could have made it back to LaGuardia had that maneuver begun immediately after the bird strike. However, such scenarios both neglected the time necessary for the pilots to understand and assess the situation, and risked the possibility of a crash within a densely populated area.
Post-flight accolades and publicity (back right) at the
first inauguration of Barack Obama on 20 January 2009, with Kentucky Senator
Jim Bunning in front U.S. President
George W. Bush called Sullenberger to thank him for saving the lives of the passengers, A ceremony for Sullenberger was held on January 24, 2009, in Sullenberger's town of
Danville, California, where he was presented with awards including Danville's "Key to the Town", While in the
Tri-Valley, Sullenberger gave his first official interview to Jega Sanmugam of
The Wildcat Tribune, the student newspaper of
Dougherty Valley High School, which his daughter attended at the time. In a special February 2009 edition, the
Tribune published "Heroism & Humility on the Hudson", covering Sullenberger and the Flight 1549 landing. Sullenberger threw out the
first pitch of the 2009
Major League Baseball season for the
San Francisco Giants. His Giants jersey was inscribed with the name "Sully" and the number 155—a reference to the 155 people aboard the plane. On June 6, 2009, Sullenberger returned to Denison to participate in the town's
D-Day celebration and to give the commencement address for his alma mater, marking the 40th anniversary of his graduation from the school. Sullenberger made an appearance in
St. Louis, Missouri, on July 14, 2009, to participate in the Red Carpet All-Star Parade before the
2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. On February 24, 2009, Sullenberger testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Aviation of the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure that his salary had been cut by 40 percent, and that his pension, like most airline pensions, was terminated and replaced by a
PBGC guarantee worth only pennies on the dollar. He cautioned that airlines were "under pressure to hire people with less experience. Their salaries are so low that people with greater experience will not take those jobs. We have some carriers that have hired some pilots with only a few hundred hours of experience. ... There's simply no substitute for experience in terms of aviation safety." The
Sullenberger Aviation Museum in
Charlotte, North Carolina is named for him. It houses a Miracle on the Hudson exhibit.
Recognition •
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
Annie Glenn Award (2021) •
Tony Jannus Award (2018) •
EAA Freedom of Flight Award (2015, with
Jeff Skiles) •
National Air and Space Museum (NASM) Trophy for Current Achievement (2010, with rest of Flight 1549 crew) •
Legion of Honour (Officer) (2010) •
Times
100 Most Influential Heroes and Icons (2009) • Master's Medal from the
Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators (2009, with Flight 1549 crew) •
Jabara Award for Airmanship (2009) ==Post-retirement==