Bravo Captain Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger

[malaise]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0115093hero1.html
<snip>
Meet Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, III, the US Airways pilot who today amazingly crash-landed a US Airways jet in New York's Hudson River without any apparent fatalities. The heroic Sullenberger, 57, has worked for US Airways since 1980, and before that spent more than six years as a U.S. Air Force F-4 fighter pilot. Sullenberger, who now must be considered the front runner to replace Hillary Clinton as New York's junior United States Senator, is also the founder of Safety Reliability Methods. The firm describes itself as providing "technical expertise and strategic vision and direction to improve safety and reliability in a variety of high risk industries." Business should soon be booming.

[Skittles]

1. I have a date with a 57 year old airline pilot Jan 21

last time I saw him, he was an Air Force captain and I was an airman :D

[malaise]

3. Have fun

Check out this man's resume.

[Skittles]

8. already have

his name sounds familiar, and he was in the Air Force when I was

[malaise]

11. Isn't that amazing.

His email addy is on his resume.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

22. Go Air Force Pride!!

My dad was in it when it was the Army Air Corps, working on Norden bombsights and avoiding combat (true--he was too valuable to go into combat, and was a lowly Staff Sgt.).

483rd Bombardment Group holds the record for the most number of bullet holes in a B-17 that came back to the base -- 30,748.

My cousin is retired from the Air Force and she lives in San Antonio. She didn't know that both of her great-uncles (one of whom is my dad) were in the Air Corps.

Quote from Dad, decades after he survived The Big One (WWII):
"The smart ones go into the Air Force".

:D

[Skittles]

23. that's some interesting stuff, Perragrande!

what I hear most often about the Air Force is it has the prettiest gals :)

[annabanana]

2. Damn! Let's hear it for experience and coolness under pressure!

[malaise]

4. Sully has sullied the grand occasion

The farewell speech. Fugg off George - Chester is the hero today.

[Schema Thing]

15. Weird; I was thinking how much my dad would have loved this story

he was a pilot in WWII and then a test pilot for a plane manufacturer.

This guy could be one of my dad's brothers. Also, my dad had a pet fox (with one leg missing from a trap) named... get this, Sully.


Dad had a tiny notation in one of his notebooks: "landed in farmers field just north of Hattiesburg; bad gasoline".

[eleny]

5. k&r!

[Elidor]

6. As god is my witness, I didn't think airplanes could float

This guy is never going to pay for his drinks again. What a fabulous landing.

[undeterred]

I didn't either

And when JFK juniors plane disappeared, I remember hearing that crashing into the ocean is no better than crashing onto concrete. There is no cushion just because its water. But a controlled landing onto relatively calm water is apparently possible.

[undeterred]

17. I didn't either

And when JFK juniors plane disappeared, I remember hearing that crashing into the ocean is no better than crashing onto concrete. There is no cushion just because its water. But a controlled landing onto relatively calm water is apparently possible.

[hedgehog]

7. Don't forget the flight attendents!

He made a water landing with a passenger jet look easy, but they kept the passengers calm and moving to get everyone out safely before the plane sank!

I'd be curious if this was the first flight of the day for this crew, or the fourth or fifth leg of a very long day. Airline people work their butts off day after day with very little recognition.

[malaise]

10. Not just the flight attendants

the New York and New Jersey ferry crews and their emergency crews. I'm celebrating workers today but Sully has an impressive resume - a safety guru.

[tanyev]

12. Yeah, I thought it was cool that the ferry crews were there so fast.

Lots of people did good work today.

:applause:

[hedgehog]

13. You're right - I almost forgot them! A lot of people were really on the ball today!

I can think of a float I'd like to add to next Tuesday's parade......

[malaise]

14. It would be nice if PE Obama's team sent them all invitations

Celebrate workers.

[ljm2002]

9. Very cool!

He deserves a lot of praise!

Well done, Sully!!!

:toast: :bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:toast: :bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:toast: :bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:toast: :bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:toast: :bounce: :woohoo: :applause:

[malaise]

18. Sully was Pilots' Union

Safety Chairman.

Union workers forever!

[ljm2002]

20. Pilots' Union Safety Chairman...

...now there is a fact that deserves to be front and center in this story.

Thanks for putting it out there!

[yourguide]

16. Here is a link to sullys firm...I sent him a thank you email.

http://safetyreliability.com/about_us

[Libertyfirst]

19. Sue? Those passengers should buy Sullenberger a gold medal he can't lift.

[XOKCowboy]

21. To the whole crew but from what I've seen "Sully" did a miraculous job

The simulations show some incredible flying. This man had some skills and used them all when it was necessary. Pilots make thousands of routine takeoffs and landings. It's when something goes wrong that the cream rises to the top.

What a great story and it was nice that it kicked Bush's speech to the back burner. It's an omen. :)