Chesley Sullenberger 29 to 31, 2007. On January 15, 2009, Sullenberger was the captain of US Airways Flight 1549, an Airbus A320 taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York City. Shortly after takeoff, the plane struck a large flock of birds (Canada geese) and lost power in both engines. Quickly determining he would be unable to reach either LaGuardia or Teterboro airport, Sullenberger piloted the plane to a water landing on the Hudson River. All 155 people on board survived and were rescued by nearby boats. Sullenberger said later: "It was very quiet as we worked, my copilot Jeff Skiles and
US Airways livery smile. Two planes have been painted with heritage America West liveries - one with the mid-1990s livery and one with the 1980s livery heritage plane reflecting America West's original livery, with a US Airways logo on the front. Following the merger with American Airlines, except for the aircraft with the original America West livery, all of the heritage planes were repainted in the same livery, but with American Airlines titles on the forward fuselage replacing the US Airways titles. Additionally, American Airlines created another US Airways heritage livery post-merger: the final US Airways (2005) livery, incorporating the US Airways livery