Chesley Sullenberger

American commercial airline pilot

Audience20.4K
Fame73.8
Momentum1.4

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Source-basedFalling

20.4K youtube followers

Audience20.4K
Fame73.8
Momentum1.4
United States rank#250
Business Professionals rank#30
Wikipedia97.7K

Born 1951 · age 75United States

United States Business ProfessionalsOther

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Biggest on YouTube
20.4K
@@captsully
Wikipedia
33 languages
Cross-language footprint
Rank in United States
#250
Business Professionals
Age
75
Born 1951
Known for
Sully
2016

Summary

Updated 2026-06-23

He landed a crippled Airbus on the Hudson River in the middle of New York City, engines dead from a bird strike, and walked all 155 people off alive. That single decision in January 2009 made Sully Sullenberger the rarest kind of famous: the hero whose split-second competence actually saved lives.

Biography

About

Born January 23, 1951, Sullenberger flew commercial for US Airways for 30 years before the morning that changed everything. On January 15, 2009, both engines on Flight 1549 failed after a bird strike; he ditched in the Hudson, and everyone survived. The landing turned him into an advocate — he co-chaired the Experimental Aircraft Association's Young Eagles program with his co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles, wrote the bestseller Highest Duty with Jeffrey Zaslow, and joined CBS News as an aviation expert after retiring in 2010. Time ranked him second among 2009's most influential heroes, behind Michelle O…

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