"Sully" in Cockpit for Surprise Flight

Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot who saved the lives of 155 passengers when he successfully landed his crippled US Airways jet in the Hudson River back in January, returned to the skies Thursday, according to a Daily News report.

"Sully" was back in the cockpit, taking passengers from Charlotte, N.C., to New York City aboard a US Airways flight - earlier than the airline .

Passengers erupted into applause when Sullenberger announced through the public address that he was piloting the plane, according to the report.

Sullenberger was flying out of New York's LaGuardia airport on Jan. 15 when his Airbus A320's engines failed after a mid-air collision with a flock of geese. With no other options for a safe landing, Sullenberger guided the plane safely down the Hudson for a now-famous splashdown that saved all on board and made him a aviation folk hero in the process.