Hero US Airways Pilot Chelsey B “Sully” Sullenberger & Miracle On The Hudson (Exclusive Photos)

Posted on January 16, 2009

Hero US Airways Pilot Chelsey B “Sully” Sullenberger & Miracle On The Hudson (Exclusive Photos)

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Chesley Sullenberger, nicknamed “Sully,” the pilot of the US Airways plane that crashed into the Hudson River is being hailed as a hero for successfully landing the plane without any major injuries or fatalities. The plane crash is being referred to as the “miracle on the Hudson”. View exclusive photos of the Hudson River plane crash below.

Sullenberger is a former Air Force fighter pilot and was hailed as a hero by New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, who called Sullenberger’s actions as “masterful,” reports The Daily Telegraph:

But he heaped praise on the plane’s captain, pilot Chesley B. Sullenberger – a 29-year veteran known as “Sully” to his colleagues – for landing the plane flat on the water and avoiding nearby Manhattan.

Mayor Bloomberg said Sullenberger did a “masterful job”.

View our exclusive US Airways Hudson River Plane Crash Pics below: (Click Thumbnail For Larger Images)

Sullenberger searched for passengers before exiting the plane, reports ABCNews.com:

The hero of Flight 1549, pilot Chesley B. Sullenberger III, walked the aisle of the downed US Airways jet twice looking for passengers before exiting the plane he safely ditched in the Hudson River, saving the lives of more than 150 people onboard.

The successful landing on water by Sullenberger is being called the “Miracle on the Hudson”, reports the NY Daily News:

It appeared to be the first time in 45 years that a major aircraft crash-landed in the water – and every passenger on board made it out alive.

Click Thumbnails for Larger Images:

CNN spoke to Sullenberger’s wife, Lori, who was stunned by her husband’s ordeal:

Sullenberger’s wife told CNN she spoke to her husband and is reeling from the incident.

“I was stunned. I hadn’t been watching the news. I’ve heard Sully say to people, ‘It’s rare for an airline pilot to have an incident in their career,’ ” Lori Sullenberger said.

“When he called me he said, ‘There’s been an accident.’ At first I thought it was something minor, but then he told me the circumstances and my body started shaking and I rushed to get our daughters out of school.”

Click Thumbnails for Larger pictures:

Below is Sully’s bio, as it appears on the homepage of his company, Safety Reliability Methods, Inc.

Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger, III is a captain for a major U.S. airline with over 40 years of flying experience. A former U.S. Air Force (USAF) fighter pilot, he has served as an instructor and Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) safety chairman, accident investigator and national technical committee member. He has participated in several USAF and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident investigations. His ALPA safety work led to the development of a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Advisory Circular. Working with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientists, he coauthored a paper on error inducing contexts in aviation. He was instrumental in the development and implementation of the Crew Resource Management (CRM) course used at his airline and has taught the course to hundreds of his colleagues. Sully is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy (B.S.), Purdue University (M.S.) and the University of Northern Colorado (M.A.). He was a speaker on two panels at the High Reliability Organizations (HRO) 2007 International Conference in Deauville, France May 29-31, 2007. He has just been named a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley.

Main image- PR, Crash Photos- Stupidcelebrities.net

Source: news