Chesley Sullenberger Chesley Sullenberger Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III (born 23 January 1951) is a retired American airline captain who, on January 15, 2009, landed US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River off Manhattan after both engines were disabled by a bird strike; all 155 persons aboard survived. Sullenberger is a speaker on airline safety and has helped develop new protocols for airline safety. He served as the co-chairman, along with First Officer Jeffrey Skiles, of the EAA's Young Eagles youth introduction-to-aviation program from 2009 to 2013. Sullenberger retired from US Airways after 30 years as a commercial pilot on March
US Airways US Airways US Airways (formerly known as USAir) was a major American airline that ceased to operate independently when the Federal Aviation Administration granted a single operating certificate (SOC) for US Airways and American Airlines on April 8, 2015. Publicly, the two carriers appeared to merge when their reservations systems and booking processes were merged on October 17, 2015; however, other systems were still separate at that time. The airline had an extensive international and domestic network, with 193 destinations in 24 countries in North America, South America, Europe and the Middle East. The airline was a member of the