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Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger
In fact, many of the passengers—not to mention witnesses who saw the dramatic landing—already are and Mayor Bloomberg, who noted that the 27-year U.S. Airways veteran (and former Air Force pilot) walked the plane twice to make sure everyone was out, said Sullenberger's decision-making was "masterful." And the NY Times reports, though there is a lot to take in ("investigators will try to figure out why this one plane, flying through some of the world’s most congested airspace, was the only one to report a bird problem"), "From early indications, it appears the pilot handled the emergency river landing with aplomb and avoided major injuries, evacuating the plane, an Airbus A320, calmly in the middle of the river, passengers and officials said."
Passenger Jeff Kolodjay, who was in seat 22A, said, "All of a sudden the captain came on and he told us to brace ourselves and probably brace ourselves pretty hard. But he did an amazing job -- kudos to him on that landing." And Sullenberger's wife Lorrie had no idea what had happened until she got a call, "I hadn't been watching the news. I've heard Sully say to people, 'It's rare for an airline pilot to have an incident in their career.' When he called me he said, 'There's been an accident.' At first I thought it was something minor, but then he told me the circumstances and my body started shaking and I rushed to get our daughters out of school." She added, "He is the consummate pilot."
A police source told the Daily News, "That pilot is a stud. After the crash, he was sitting there in the ferry terminal, wearing his hat, sipping his coffee and acting like nothing happened." And here's Sullenberger's resume at The Smoking Gun—he has his own consulting company.
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Wow. Reading this guy's resume really reinforces the idea that those passengers were lucky to be on his plane. OK, obviously any airline pilot has qualifications, but I've known two of them personally and -- I'm glad they won't know I'm writing this -- Sullenberg blows them away. I mean, like in most jobs there are people who are doing the job efficiently, and then there are people who are going beyond that and trying to change and improve things. Judging just by his resume, he's in that rare latter group.
And kudos to the Smoking Gun for that Senator joke. That was good.
Somebody give this guy a medal.
He is my new hero.
Nah... just remember it was all thanks to God Almighty... he had nothing to do with landing the plane in the water safely...
Let's give this crew the Bronze Medallion!
If the subway rescue guy deserved it, these pilots and flight attendants do for sure!
It's a good thing he didn't have the fish.
"You ever see a grown man naked?"
Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?
Why is noone giving credit to his copilot, Captain Abdul-Jabar?
You guys Effing Kill on the messge boards !! Ha "Airplane" refrences HA HA !!
You guys effin KILL on the message boards !! Excuse me stewardess I speak JIVE !!!! HA HA "Airplane" refrences!!
Can you fly this plane and land it?
Surely you can't be serious.
I am serious, and don't call me Shirley.
There's been a little problem in the cockpit, and I was . . .
The cockpit--what is it?
It's the little room in the front of the plane where the pilots sit, but that's not important right now.
When I saw the first reports of this on a TV in line at my bank I thought "Oh crap. There must be a lot of people dead." I couldn't believe it when the details came out. This pilot is an amazing fella.
Captain Sulley is just one of many pilots who gained flying expertise while serving in Vietnam. One of the legacies of the Vietnam War was that it produced a large group of pilots who earned their wings flying under difficult combat conditions. And many of those highly-skilled pilots then went on to jobs in commercial aviation.
Unfortunately those same pilots are now approaching retirement age or have already retired.
correction: should read Captain SULLENBERGER (Sulley is his nickname)
That is one hell of a resume. This is one guy who was definatly born to fly.
I would be very cautious about , because I wouldn't want to "have a beer" with this guy.
I am cautious about him, mainly because my standards are whether or not I would want to "have a beer" with this guy.
A national hero. He saved the lives of all those on board. Pilots are trained in how to ditch a plane, and it's mentioned in the seat-back safety pamphlet, but it's never actually been done.
To think that this guy safely landed a jumbo jet in the middle of the Hudson- Obama should give this guy a front row seat on Tuesday.
I smell reality series.
The guy is a hero.
But I hate to point out something in this article (as quoted in the NYTimes) that just doesn't sound right.
("investigators will try to figure out why this one plane, flying through some of the world’s most congested airspace, was the only one to report a bird problem")..."
If there was no crash as a result of birds, would there really have been a reported bird problem?
Perhaps this incident will serve as a lesson for the future.
Ten bucks says Guiliani starts referencing "Captain Sullenberger" in his 100K speaking engagements.
No one is asking the obvious question of... did the geese survive???
I heard they kept the remaining carcasses and roasted them for the passengers.
Thanks for getting the joke...
I think its pretty obvious the geese did not survive. Don't they fly south for the winter especially on the coldest day in 2 yrs?
I don't think so. I see these geese all the time despite the weather. They love to camp right next to bodies of water, and as you know, LGA has a lot of that nearby.
This man and his crew have redefined the word of honor and hope. WOW! The passengers were all hero's in my mind and in their own right as well. From the reports I read, they all remained relatively calm and helped each other get off the plane.
In a day of a depressed economy this is the single most amazing thing thing to happen, I think ever.
Absolutely. With each article I read about this, I just feel overwhelmed and happy.
The pilot was without question brilliant, but it still creeps me out how close this came to ending tragically, not only for the 150+ passengers people on the plane, but imaging if the plane had gone down on the UWS or in Midtown? Dang.
@tamar Yes, "bird problems" get reported all the time, even when there isn't a crash (which is fortunately usually the case). If you Google for it, you'll find that planes hitting birds without damage are surprisingly common. (Well, the plane's usually don't sustain damage. The birds tend to not be so lucky.)
Thanks Derek. Then I guess it wasn't incorrect for the article to say that. I'm surprised that they didn't do anything, then.
I always see geese around these parts, especially in this weather.
I just hope that that airline/airport staff become more vigilant as a result of this incident.
Awesome pilot and great story, but when they kept talking about it on the news last night, they kept mentioning that everyone was OK except for one person who broke both legs. I want to know exactly how that happened. Was it the one jerk that seems to be on every plane that thinks he's not subject to the rules and regulations of the airline industry and so he believes he can move about the cabin at his whim? If so, I'm glad his legs are broken. If not and it's some poor passenger with bad luck, then I feel for them.
My thoughts exactly.
I just love his name.
Bloomberg should give him (and some of those NY Waterway employees) the key to the city.
absolutely, as you said, let's not forget the NY Waterway employees who rushed over there and got the people out of the water. While most likely no one would have survived if Captain Sullenberger hadn't done such an amazing job, getting the people out of that water as fast as possible also probably saved lives.
Here, here —an amazing effort by all the first responders, including the NY Waterway and Circle Line folks.
One stewardess broke a leg, Cowboys. She was probably trying to make sure all the passengers were secure. It's called selflessness. Have a little pent up aggression towards those who "move about the cabin"??
It's not really pent up. I release my aggression on a regular basis. But I do have something against those who believe themselves better and above others. The jerk I referred to seems to be on every flight and enjoys delaying takeoff by not sitting his ass down. This same jerk is usually seen stretching or retrieving his laptop from the overhead compartment before cruising altitude. Those rules are in place for a reason. Turbulence can actually kill people who are not secure in their seats.
Anyway, since it was a flight attendant then I applaud her for her endeavors in trying to keep said jerk in his seat. I am sorry she had to pay for someone else's stupidity.
dean meminger taped some stuff around the NY botanical garden in the bronx, are geese common up there?
I hope this pilot will still fly and teach.
I like to watch "seconds to disaster" and airline emergency on natgeo and I hope they'll do a segment on this. if I recall, one british pilot who survived a cockpit emergency retired after an incident.
This guy is the white haired Fonzie. I'm happy for him, because the book deal and sudden riches he is about to encounter are certainly well-deserved.
Love you Sully!
An amazing story all around. Unfortunately, next time I go to LGA, all I'll be able to think about is how NYC air space is a death trap waiting to happen regardless of geese and stud pilots.
Last time I landed at LGA a few months ago, we did the scary landing pattern - fly over Shea stadium, make a sudden sharp turn, and straighten out maybe 2 seconds before hitting the runway. My guess is that anyone crazy enough to fly into LGA (also the US's shortest runway, as if being in congested airspace and being a dump isn't bad enough) is as badass as Sully.
Not trying to take anything away from Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, but there were two pilots in the cockpit: Captain Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles. Both were fully qualified to operate the aircraft, and both are responsible for the outcome. Somehow, I doubt that Skiles was just sitting there twiddling his thumbs while Sullenberger was doing all the work.
There are tons of geese around the Botanical Garden and Bronx Zoo. I think that when they're flying over the city they see this nice green place and decide to land there.
Let's also give a little credit to the French
for designing the Airbus 320 the only plane in
the world with a "Ditch Switch".
The ditch switch is activated for a water landing
and proceeds to close all vents on the aircraft making
it float safer.
The added bonus of Capt."Sully"is he is a very
good and solid glider pilot use to flying planes
with no power. That surely helped his co-pilot.
Merci!
If US 1549 is not salvagable then after TSB are done I suggest it be parked up by Intrepid - it's already drawing crowds according to the New York Times
No no no. Not a hero. Not a stud. Just a great pilot. See this thoughtful post at: www.StopTheWorldIWannaGetOff.com