Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger III is also known as captain Sully became the hero of the nation on January 15, 2009. The captain was able to land the flight safely in the middle of the Hudson River after both of its engines were knocked out. He was able to save lives of all the 155 crew members and the passengers. This incident was later known as the “Miracle on the Hudson. The new movie 'Sully' has Tom Hanks playing the title role and is based on the same incident. The whole world went crazy over captain Sully after his successful landing, but there are chances that the world doesn't know much facts about this national hero.
Check out some facts about Captain, Sully.
It is said that Captain Sully originally met Tom Hanks at an Oscar party few weeks after the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ occurred. "I asked him, 'How are you handling all of this (attention)?', " says Hanks, who plays Sullenberger. "And (he) said, 'It’s a little bit surreal, but enjoyable to a certain degree.' That’s a pretty good description of celebrity."
Born in Denison, Texas, captain Sully was born to Marjorie Pauline, an elementary school teacher, and Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, a dentist. According to his sister, Sully used to build model planes and aircraft carriers in his childhood and always dreamt about flying high. At the age of 12, his IQ was so high that he cracked the interview and got an admission in Mensa International where he developed a passion for flying after watching the flying jets.
Sully was selected along with around a dozen other freshmen for a cadet glider program, and by the end of that year, he appointed to the United States Air Force Academy becoming the instructor pilot. In the year of his graduation, 1973, he received the Outstanding Cadet in Airmanship award, as the class "top flyer". By the time he completed his post graduation, he was assigned to UPT at Columbus AFB.
After 30 years of service with US airway, Sully retired on March 3, 2010. His final flight was US Airways Flight Number 1167 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Charlotte, North Carolina. After retirement, Sully said that his advocacy for aviation safety and the piloting profession would continue. Later, he was hired by CBS as an aviation and safety expert.
Captain Sully’s luggage was retrieved from the partially submerged plane, which was dragged out from the Hudson and is now on display at the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte. It is said that during the incident, people were trying to take out their luggage but capital Sully just valued their life and not his luggage. His luggage was later rescued.
The first book written on Sully was not on the incident, but it was about his the personal life which includes his father’s suicide. After his death, Sullenberger wrote a story of his father and his father’s depression. He also urged anyone with a loved one at risk to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or the Veterans Crisis Line. Sully failed to understand his father’s battle with depression and his dark days.
Captain Sully dedicated 65 years of his life in flying and air safety. Apart from serving seven years as a captain in the air force, he also worked with the ALPA to develop an FAA Advisory Circular. Other than his experience, his education did not stop here. Aside from his B.S. in Psychology from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Sully also bagged a degree in the M.S. in Industrial Psychology from Purdue and an M.A. in Public Administration from the University of Northern Colorado.
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