‘Miracle on the Hudson’ pilot Sully Sullenberger reveals Alzheimer’s diagnosis
'Miracle on the Hudson': Checking in with Sully Sullenberger 15 years later
15 years ago, Sully Sullenberger, an airline captain from Danville, landed a U.S. Airways jet on the Hudson River in New York. It became known as the "Miracle on the Hudson." We take a look back at what was the aviation industry's most successful emergency water landing.
DANVILLE, Calif. - Sully Sullenberger – an airline captain from Danville who in 2009 landed a passenger jet carrying 155 people on the Hudson River in New York – revealed on Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
Sullenberger made the announcement on his website, noting the disease is currently in its early stage.
"For now, this means a name may not come easily to me, I forget a story I have recently told, or I don’t sleep as well, but I am in the beginning of this long journey," Sullenberger said in a prepared statement.
Reflecting on a career of service
The pilot said speaking with his doctor about Alzheimer’s opened his eyes to the disease’s prevalence, and caused him to reflect on his long career of service with the U.S. Air Force, as a commercial airline pilot with U.S. Airways and as a representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization under former President Joe Biden.
"I used the greater voice afforded to me by The Miracle on the Hudson to further aviation safety by speaking out on the many issues facing the industry," Sullenberger said. "I was proud to work with many colleagues, fighting for increased pilot training, more pilot rest, in favor of the two-pilot rule, on increased technology issues, and more."
Now, Sullenberger said, he intends to use his platform to raise awareness of the disease he now fights.
"This new phase of my life has challenged what it means to be of service. And the answer is to speak up," he said. "It is my hope that by sharing this, other families living in the shadows with this disease will feel they too can step forward."
Fueled by courage
Sullenberger reflected on the 2009 flight that could have ended tragically but for the courage of everyone involved. He said, when people would ask him how that "Miracle on the Hudson" turned out so favorably, he would reply that "courage can be contagious."
Courage is what banded everyone together that day, and helped them escape the crashed plane with their lives, he said.
"Now we need that courage to battle this disease," Sullenberger said. "I am now part of a larger community with many of you, and we will be courageous together."
The Miracle on the Hudson
On Jan. 15, 2009, U.S. Airways Flight 1549 departed New York's LaGuardia Airport and ran into a flock of Canadian geese that were ingested into the Airbus's twin engines, causing both to fail while the plane was still dangerously low to the ground.
Sullenberger and his co-pilot, First Officer Jeffrey Skiles, glided the plane to a belly landing on the Hudson River, where the aircraft floated in one piece. The passengers and crew then clambered onto the wings of the slowly sinking plane, where they were recovered by rescuers in boats.
Ninety minor injuries and five serious injuries were reported in the wake of the crash, though no one was killed and Sullenberger was hailed as a hero for his actions.
The Source: Statement from Sully Sullenberger, previous KTVU reporting