Chesley B. Sullenberger III, the pilot known as Sully who guided a passenger jet to a water landing in 2009 in what became known as the “Miracle on the Hudson” after he saved 155 lives, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, he said in a statement on Tuesday.
The diagnosis is “early stage,” he said, adding: “I am in the beginning of this long journey.”
Captain Sullenberger, 75, retired as a commercial pilot in 2010, a year after his famous landing on the Hudson River. On Jan. 15, 2009, he was piloting US Airways Flight 1549 on a flight from LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte, N.C., when both of the plane’s engines lost power after it struck a flock of geese shortly after takeoff.
Captain Sullenberger guided the Airbus A320 safely into the Hudson River, and everyone on board was safely rescued. He was hailed as a hero after the landing, with President Barack Obama inviting the captain and his five-person crew to his 2009 inauguration days after the emergency landing.
Significant media coverage followed, as well as the 2016 movie “Sully” directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Tom Hanks.
After the incident and the attention it brought, Captain Sullenberger called for new safety measures in aviation, including increased pilot training, more pilot rest and a rule requiring two pilots to be in the cockpit at all times. In 2021, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. nominated him to be an ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency that helps develop policies and standards for global aviation.
In the announcement of his diagnosis, Captain Sullenberger nodded to his work as an ambassador, as well as his time in the U.S. Air Force and as an aviation accident investigator, saying he “spent his life in service.”
“So this new phase of my life has challenged what it means to be of service,” he wrote. “And the answer is to speak up. It is my hope that by sharing this, other families living in the shadows with this disease will feel they too can step forward.”
An estimated 7.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, a form of dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. The disease worsens over time, and early stage symptoms — as Captain Sullenberger said he was experiencing — include memory loss as well as difficulties with problem solving and completing tasks.
“For now, this means a name may not come easily to me, I forget a story I have recently told, or I don’t sleep as well,” he wrote.
The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America praised Captain Sullenberger’s announcement.
“His decision to publicly disclose his diagnosis will help raise awareness, reduce stigma, and show support for the many others living with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia-related illnesses,” the foundation said in a statement attributed to Charles J. Fuschillo Jr., the organization’s president.
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