"Sully" Sullenberger, "Miracle on the Hudson" Pilot, Skips Interview, Flies to Washington

It was all anyone could talk about. That and the Obama inauguration. But for a few minutes on Thursday and Friday, the world was tuned into the "Miracle on the Hudson." And when most of the details were known, the pilot, Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, was found to be a hero. And as more details filtered in, the magnitude of what he had accomplished in landing the US Airways jet in the Hudson River was increased exponentially.

No engines working, Sullenberger dropped an 80-ton missile into a freezing body of moving water. All 150 passengers and 5 crewmen lived. It was only the second time in history a pilot had performed the feat.

And the more we found out about the man and his personal accomplishments through the years, the more we wanted to know. An Air Force Academy graduate, "Sully" Sullenberger had piloted jet fighters in the U. S. Air Force for seven years. He worked for NASA. He investigated plane crashes. He worked on cases with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For 28 years, Sullenberger has piloted US Airways jets. And he was president of his own safety consultant firm.

While president George W. Bush tried to convince the American people one last time that they should agree that he was willing to make all the tough, however wrong, decisions, the United States and the world was being flooded with images and sound bites of someone who made several snap decisions in the space of a couple minutes that saved a number of lives.

Then his wife, Lorrie Sullenberger, told the world that he was a humble man.

"Sully" Sullenberger was America's kind of hero. Quiet, unassuming, accomplished. A man of action. A man you could count on.

The black box was recovered from US Airways Flight 1549, according to NBCLosAngeles.com, and it corroborated Sullenberger's (and everyone else's) account of what happened. It had all begun with a double bird strike.

NTSB investigator Robert Benzon said the black box dispatches were "a very calm, collected exercise."

The quiet man agreed to an interview with Matt Lauer on the "Today Show." Finally, America would get to see and hear the man himself.

Then he cancelled.

"Sully" Sullenberger, his co-pilot Jeff Stiles, and the three flight attendants issued a joint statement asking the media respect their "desire" to not be interviewed while the NTSB investigation was ongoing. United, the "Miracle on the Hudson" crew said that they "wish to offer their sincere thanks and appreciation for the overwhelming support, praise and well wishes they have received from the public around the world since the events of last Thursday."

But it was soon discovered that he would be at President Obama's inauguration. The President Elect had personally invited the Sullenbergers to the inauguration.

After providing Americans something to watch while president Bush delayed William Petersen's final episode of "CSI," Sullenberger deserved a reward.

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Source:

NBCLosAngeles.com