Pilot Pulls Off "A Miracle On The Hudson"

(CBS/AP)  The pilot who guided a crippled US Airways jetliner safely into the Hudson River - saving all 155 people aboard - became an instant hero Thursday, with accolades from the mayor and governor and a fan club online.

The pilot of Flight 1549 was Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III, 57, of Danville, Calif., an official familiar with the accident told The Associated Press. Sullenberger is a former fighter pilot who runs a safety consulting firm in addition to flying commercial aircraft.

Sullenberger, who has flown for US Airways since 1980, flew F-4 fighter jets with the Air Force in the 1970s. He then served on a board that investigated aircraft accidents and participated later in several National Transportation Safety Board investigations.

Passenger David Sanderson told CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric the pilots deserve all the credit for saving the passengers.

"When I was watching how it was coming down, there was no way he could have landed on the ground," Sanderson said from his New Jersey hospital bed. "He did the right thing, so I give him all the credit. It was pretty much controlled chaos on the plane."

CBS News correspondent Bob Orr said the incident "has all the earmarks of being a real heroic job by the pilots."

"You have to understand you have compromised engines, or no engines, no altitude, no speed and no room," he said "If you look at the Hudson River, down on a boat, it looks pretty wide. When you're in the air and you see it, it's a very closed area and you have hit that ribbon of water."

When he's not flying planes, Sullenberger is president of Safety Reliability Methods, a California firm that uses "the ultra-safe world of commercial aviation" as a base for safety consulting in other fields, according to the firm's Web site.

Sullenberger's mailbox at the firm was full on Thursday. A group of fans sprang up on Facebook within hours of the emergency landing.

"OMG, I am terrified of flying but I would be happy to be a passenger on one of your aircraft!!" Melanie Wills in Bristol wrote on the wall of "Fans of Sully Sullenberger." "You have saved a lot of people's lives and are a true hero!!"

The pilot "did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river and then making sure that everybody got out," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "He walked the plane twice after everybody else was off, and tried to verify that there was nobody else on board, and he assures us there was not."

"He was the last one up the aisle and he made sure that there was nobody behind him."

Gov. David Paterson pronounced it a "miracle on the Hudson."

Sullenberger's co-pilot was Jeff Skiles, 49, of Oregon, Wis., a 23-year US Airways veteran.

"He was OK," said his wife, Barbara. "He was relieved that everybody got off."

She said she and her husband couldn't remember an accident as serious as this in his career.

[jlwesley]

Enough,Already, Sulley was just doing what he and thousands others like him are trained and paid to do.

Those thousands of others as well as Sulley, Myself our friends, family and the rest of the aviation world are acutely aware that The Hero of the Hudson, is one checklist item, one misjudged turn, one wave too high or simply one second away from an NTSB final report stating that the "Catastrophe On the Hudson was a result of PILOT ERROR".

[Gorevidal]

What''s the difference between a hero and somone doing their job?

[rimries]

Vincent Lombardi and Vincent Lucante, and all the other ferry boat captains, are heroes because they did the right thing instantly. They didn''t pause to think about it, they didn''t call superiors for instructions, they just pointed their boats toward the downed airplane, drove up to it, and started saving people. The plane''s pilot and all its crew and all the police and firemen are also heroes, of course, but for me the image that brings tears to my eyes every time it''s played on TV is that of all those boats crowded up next to the sinking plane, like a pride of lions protecting an injured cub.

Chalk it up to good training, or high moral character or that indefinable human spirit - or whatever you want; I don''t care - it''s just wonderful to see and read about people who did the right thing and allowed all of us to experience a happy ending.

[neicey55]

Kudos to the Pilot. A HERO for sure.
Now for the $100,000.00 question of the day.
Wouldn''t one think that in the year of 2009 someone would have come up with a mesh to put over airplane engines to prevent this from happening? Perhaps that is not possible......so wouldn''t one think of coming up with a design for an aeodynamic tip for the airplane engine - shaped cone like with air escape openings - for the purpose of this type of occurance NOT happening ?

[sheila2u-2009]

Instead of crediting this HERO. NTSB board member Kitty Higgins says:They will also explore whether the pilot could have made it to nearby Teterboro Airport in New Jersey ..Get a grip lady !!! FEDS go home...NY can take care of EVERYTHING without your help !!!!
When did you save 150 lives ?

I am a New Yorker...Hurray for Captain Sully.... Boo to Higgins....Her comments make no sense. Every available heros medal should be bestowed on this awesome Man !!!!

[Cas2dy]

Why is everyone celebrating this guy, afterall he crashed a plane didnt he? He could have avoided the flock of geese but he ran right into them, typical union worker. The geese would not have been there if liberals would not have restricted hunting them. Clearly from begining to end this is the fault of liberals.


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Posted by lady_organs at 09:01 AM : Jan 16, 2009


Don''t tell me, you''re thinking with your...lady organs? Right? Thought so.

[hatesthecolt]

Turns out the marine in San Diego told ground control that he could land outsied the populated area but he was ORDERED to bring the plane in by superiors. I doubt we''''ll here anything about that investigation.

Posted by usclimey

I bet Sullenberger would have ignored those ''orders.''

[hatesthecolt]

Turns out the marine in San Diego told ground control that he could land outsied the populated area but he was ORDERED to bring the plane in by superiors. I doubt we''''ll here anything about that investigation.

Posted by usclimey

I bet Sullenberger would have ignored those ''orders.''

[usclimey]

I find it interesting to compare this to the Marine pilot who crashed into the neighborhood in CA. I said back then that the guy should have made a better effort to get the plane out of a populated area. I bet Sullenberger would have managed to do so.

Posted by hatesthecolt

Turns out the marine in San Diego told ground control that he could land outsied the populated area but he was ORDERED to bring the plane in by superiors. I doubt we''ll here anything about that investigation.

Congratulations, Capt. Sullenberger on an excellent piece of flying. It''s nice to read a story about pilot excellence rather than pilot error.

[mick7744]

All passengers and crew of Flight 1549 should go right out and buy a lottery ticket...and give them all to Captain Sullenberger.