Chesley Sullenberger Born: Heroic Airline Captain
Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger is reported as having been born on January 23, 1951, in Denison, Texas. He is an American aviator, former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, and commercial airline captain best known for safely ditching US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River in 2009 after a bird strike disabled both engines. Sullenberger graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1973 with a Bachelor of Science degree and served as a fighter pilot flying F-4 Phantom II jets until 1980, attaining the rank of captain. He later earned master's degrees from Purdue University and the University of Northern Colorado. Joining Pacific Southwest Airlines in 1980, he flew for US Airways until retiring in 2010. Sullenberger had extensive experience...