He was the right man in the right place at the right time.
Fifteen years ago today, on January 15, 2009, Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger landed his crippled, powerless plane in New York’s Hudson River.
In what quickly became known as the “Miracle on the Hudson,” Capt. Sullenberger, his co-pilot, and every one of his 150 passengers and 3 flight attendants survived.
Details of the event were widely published, but not all of them mentioned that his Air Force training and many years of flying (more than 20,000 hours over 42 years) included glider experience, a commercial pilot license rating in gliders, and a flight instructor certificate for airplanes (single, multi-engine, and instrument) and gliders.
Could any other pilot have made that landing? We’ll never know. But if ever there was an American hero, it’s Capt. Sullenberger.
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Featured image: Capt. Sullenberger (Photo: Andrew Theodorakis, NY Daily News / Getty Images)
I was RAPT in that event !! – it thrilled me beyond words. And Sully is such a sweet bloke, unassuming and wishful of being overlooked. I suspect the movie overly dramatised the bits where there was friction ..
Anyway, Colorado, your blog has done it again for me: I had NO IDEA of his glider experience. And I believe whole-heartedly that it would have been an immense help to him.
Goodonyermate ! 🙂
There are no limits to my admiration of him. The ultimate professional, calm, delivering his very best under extreme stress. Humble, self-effacing, soft-spoken …
(How I wish we had a few more like him … in Washington.)
A very good memory!
We don’t need any more harrowing landings, but we could sure use some more men like him. What a class act.
never have forgotten him
… and I never will.
I totally agree that he was THE man for the job, and everyone was lucky that he was at the helm that day. I can’t help but compare his uniquely appropriate experience for the task to our current president, who seems to get only negative takes due to his age. Sully was not a young man, yet he was the perfect blend of experience and knowledge to nail the landing. I wish journalists could connect the dots to Biden’s presidency.
The only reason I worry about Biden’s age is because I don’t like his vice president. Aside from that I can’t think of any Democrat better qualified for the job l. Or any other Dem that could beat Trump. And Trump absolutely must be beaten. I agree the media are not giving Biden the credit he deserves.
I remember that incident clearly. I kind of got into trouble at a workshop for speaking out and using Sully as an example of the value of experience when the presenter suggested that we old people need to be more open to new ideas. Yes, it is good to listen to new perspectives, but sometimes you need a great deal of experience to land the plane!
By the way, the new education model that was being implemented at that workshop was later abandoned by the district because it was based on flawed assumptions.