Best Known As: Other

Gist:  Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III (born January 23, 1951)

is an American airline transport pilot (ATP), safety expert, and accident investigator from Danville, California,







who successfully carried out the emergency ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River, offshore from Manhattan, New York City, on January 15, 2009, thus saving the lives of the 155 people on the aircraft. He is an international speaker on airline safety and has helped develop new protocols for airline safety.

Life Facts:  Sullenberger was born to a dentist father — a descendant of Swiss immigrants named Sollenberger — and an elementary school teacher mother. He has one sister, Mary Wilson.

The street on which he grew up in Denison, Texas, was named after his mother's family, the Hannas. According to his sister, Sullenberger built model planes and aircraft carriers during his childhood, and might have become interested in flying after hearing stories about his father's service in the United States Navy. He went to school in Denison, and was consistently in the 99th percentile in every academic category. At the age of 12, his IQ was deemed high enough to join Mensa International. He also gained a pilot's license at 14. In high school he was the president of the Latin club, and graduated from Denison High School in 1969 near the top of his class of about 350.

In addition to his Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Air Force Academy, Sullenberger also holds a Master's degree in industrial psychology from Purdue University and a Master's degree in public administration from the University of Northern Colorado.

He is a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, Center for Catastrophic Risk Management. He was a speaker for two panels at the High Reliability Organizations (HRO) 2007 International Conference in Deauville, France, from May 29 to 31, 2007.