US Airways flight 1549 | Description, Pilot, & Facts (2024)

FAQs

Did Sully Sullenberger lose his pension? ›

On February 24, 2009, Sullenberger testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Aviation of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure that his salary had been cut by 40 percent, and that his pension, like most airline pensions, was terminated and replaced by a PBGC guarantee worth only ...

In 2009, pilots Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles of US Airways Flight 1549 were forced to make an emergency landing on the Hudson River.

After serving in the Air Force, in February 1980 he became an airline pilot with Pacific Southwest Airlines, later acquired by US Airways, until his retirement from commercial flying in March 2010. He still flies privately. Sullenberger was an active and ardent safety advocate throughout his four-decade-long career.

Later a few passengers contacted law firms to consult about suing for emotional distress and other losses. From the moment after the landing, survivors have been interviewed by the media, some immediately after being pulled from the wings of the floating plane.

Sullenberger and Skiles especially remain close, staying in communication “constantly,” Skiles said. “It's a bond, as you might imagine, that's never going to be broken,” he said.

Each passenger later received a letter of apology, $5,000 in compensation for lost baggage (and $5,000 more if they could demonstrate larger losses), and a refund of their ticket price. In May 2009, they received any belongings that had been recovered.

The now-Captain Skiles is still a pilot.

In 1975, Sullenberger earned his pilot wings and went on to complete replacement training in the F-4 Phantom II at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. Afterward, he served with the 493rd Tactical Fighter Squadron of 48th Tactical Fighter Wing at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, United Kingdom.

The passengers all got their items returned to them.

In this case, “they got their luggage back and items would keep trickling in,” says Swaringen. “A few months later, someone would get an individual sock back in a nice box.” Much, but not all of it, survived intact—some of the clothing shrank or was ruined.

Sully, Dushane and Dris are later arrested for Kamale's murder but released on bail.

Why did Sully's plane not sink? ›

Why did Captain Sully's plane that landed on the Hudson River not sink immediately? Are planes designed to float if they land on water? Yes, planes are most definitely designed to float on water. In fact, the Airbus has “ditching switch” which closes all the apertures which would be under water.

In simulators at Airbus's training center in Toulouse, France programmed to recreate the conditions faced by US Airways Flight 1549 on that fateful day, pilots were repeatedly able to turn the airliner around after the engines lost power and successfully land on a runway back at LaGuardia, reports CBS News producer ...

After realizing that his propulsion engines had been fatally damaged by a bird strike, Sullenberger had the foresight and training to fire up the little jet engine that could – Honeywell's 131-9A auxiliary power unit.

Board member Robert Sumwalt, who will chair the hearing, said Campbell has told NTSB investigators that it was flight attendant Doreen Welsh who cracked open the door, not a passenger.

The landing was so smooth that many passengers didn't even realize they were in the water until they looked out the window. Sully quickly ordered the evacuation of the plane, and with the help of rescue boats, all 155 people on board were safely rescued.

He did not specify why he made the decision to depart the post. A U.S. State Department spokesperson told Reuters that Sullenberger's “indisputable credibility on aviation safety and security matters reinforced American leadership on those issues and strengthened our nation's partnerships across the globe.”

Dispute over depiction of NTSB

In a promotional video preceding the release, Eastwood claimed that the NTSB had "railroaded" Sullenberger by "trying to paint the picture that he had done the wrong thing." After the film's release, NTSB investigators objected to their portrayal.

While the events of the water landing were extremely accurate, the film exaggerates the NTSB investigation and frames the investigators as villains, twisting it into a witch hunt for added drama.