Chesley Sullenberger

Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III (born January 23, 1951) is a retired American fighter pilot, diplomat, and airline pilot best known for his heroism as captain of US Airways Flight 1549 that he ditched in the Hudson River in 2009 after both engines were disabled by a bird strike. All 155 people aboard survived. Sullenberger became an outspoken advocate for aviation safety and has helped develop new protocols for airline safety. He served as the co-chairman, along with his co-pilot on Flight 1549, 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 March 3, 2010, after 30 years as a commercial pilot.Weiss, Mitch; Bomkamp, Samantha (March 3, 2010)
"'Miracle on the Hudson' pilot Sullenberger retires"
''The Seattle Times''. In May of the following year, he was hired by CBS News as an aviation and safety expert."'Sully' Sullenberger named CBS News Aviation and Safety Expert"
. TV Newser, May 19, 2011

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.

On June 15, 2021, President Joe Biden announced he would nominate Sullenberger as U.S. representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) with the rank of ambassador. He was confirmed by unanimous consent in the Senate on December 2, 2021 and served that role from February 3 to July 1, 2022.

Early life

Chesley Burnett Sullenberger III was born January 23, 1951, 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; she 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.

When he was 12 years old, his IQ was deemed high enough that he was allowed to join Mensa International. In high school, he was the president of the Latin club, a first chair flutist, and an honor student. 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 Champion 7DC from a private airstrip near his home. He said that the training he received from a local flight instructor influenced his aviation career for the rest of his life.

Sullenberger earned a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and basic sciences 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.

Military service

Sullenberger was appointed to the United States Air Force Academy, entering with the Class of 1973 in June 1969. He was selected along with around a dozen other freshmen for a cadet glider program, and by the end of that year, he was an instructor pilot. When he graduated in 1973, he received the Outstanding Cadet in Airmanship award, as the class's "top flyer". Following his graduation with a Bachelor of Science degree and his commissioning as an officer, the Air Force immediately sent Sullenberger to Purdue University to pursue a master's degree prior to entering Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT).

Following completion of his graduate degree at Purdue, he was assigned to UPT at Columbus AFB, Mississippi, flying the T-37 Tweet and T-38 Talon. After earning his wings in 1975 as a pilot, he completed replacement training in the F-4 Phantom II at Luke AFB, Arizona. This was followed by his assignment to the 493d Tactical Fighter Squadron of 48th Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom, in the F-4D Phantom II.

Following his assignment at RAF Lakenheath, he was reassigned to the 428th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing at Nellis AFB, Nevada, again flying the F-4D. He advanced to become a flight leader and a training officer and attained the rank of captain, with experience in Europe, the Pacific, and at Nellis Air Force Base, as well as operating as Blue Force mission commander in Red Flag Exercises. While in the Air Force, he was a member of an aircraft accident investigation board.

Civil aviation career

Sullenberger was employed by 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 became the founder and CEO of Safety Reliability Methods, Inc. (SRM), a firm providing strategic and tactical guidance to enhance organizational safety, performance, and reliability.

He has also 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. He was instrumental in developing and implementing the Crew Resource Management course that was used by US Airways, and he has taught the course to hundreds of airline crew members.

Working with NASA scientists, he coauthored a paper on error-inducing contexts in aviation. He was an air accident investigator for an NTSB inquiry into a major accident at Los Angeles International Airport, which "led to improved airline procedures and training for emergency evacuations of aircraft." Sullenberger has also been studying the psychology behind keeping an airline crew functioning during a crisis.

Sullenberger was active with his union, serving as chairman of a safety committee within the Air Line Pilots Association.

He was a featured speaker for two panels: one on aviation and one on patient safety in medicine, at the High Reliability Organizations (HRO) 2007 International Conference in Deauville, France, from May 29 to 31, 2007.

US Airways Flight 1549

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. Shortly after takeoff, the plane struck a flock of Canada geese and lost power in both engines. Quickly determining he would be unable to reach either LaGuardia or Teterboro Airport

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