Learning Center Our Enshrinees

Chesely B. Sullenberger III

• Learned to fly as a teenager. Graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1973 and became a fighter pilot, flying the F-4 Phantom. He also served as a flight leader and training officer. 
• In 1980, he became an airline pilot for Pacific Southwest Airlines (later US Airways); he worked as a commercial pilot for this airline until his retirement in 2010. 
• On January 15, 2009, Captain Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles were flying US Airways Flight 1549 (an Airbus A320) when they were struck by a flock of geese, causing almost total loss of thrust in both engines only two minutes after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in New York City, New York. Judging it impossible to either return to LaGuardia or proceed to Teterboro Airport due to the aircraft’s descent rate and available power, Sullenberger successfully landed the aircraft on the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 passengers and crew. This event became known as the “Miracle on the Hudson.”
• Helped develop the Crew Resource Management course for US Airways, which he later presented to hundreds of US Airways pilots.
• Founder, Safety Reliability Methods, Inc., which provided the aviation industry with emergency management, safety strategies, and performance monitoring; he served as a Local Air Safety Chairman, served as a member of an ALPA national technical committee, and served as an ALPA representative for a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation.
• Along with his US Airways Flight 1549 First Officer Jeff Skiles, Sullenberger served as the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Young Eagles from 2009 until 2013.
• Served six months as the U.S. Representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).