Sully Retires: No More Miracles on the Hudson
March 3, 2010— -- Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the US Airways pilot who made an amazing emergency landing in the Hudson River last year is retiring.
After that flight -- dubbed "The Miracle on the Hudson" -- Sullenberger has become a celebrity, appearing on TV shows and writing a book, "Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters." He was reportedly paid $2.5 million to $3 million for the book.
After a few months off, Sullenberger returned to US Airways in a new role consulting on safety management for the airline and flying the occasional flight. In October, just before the release of his book, Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles, who was with him for the Hudson crash flight, took to the skies again together. The pair flew from Charlotte, N.C., to New York in the morning and then returned together in a trip called their "reunion flight."
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Passengers aboard those flights described the mood as "jubilant," with everybody clapping and screaming after Sullenberger welcomed them on board.
Sullenberger quickly became a poster child for the ideal pilot, somebody with years of experience and extensive safety training. He went to Congress to testify at a hearing about regional pilots and the amount of hours they have to work and number of years of experience they have.
When two Northwest Airlines pilots were out of contact with air traffic controllers for an unusually long amount of time, more than one person commented that it wouldn't have happened if Sully was at the helm.
