Hero Pilot Honors the Profession

THIRTY-SIX YEARS AGO, while still walking on marble strips at the US Air Force Academy, part of my daily routine shared a stairwell with Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. Sully was a First Class Cadet (at right) in Cadet Squadron 18. I was a doolie in Cadet Squadron 17, looking forward to spending part of my summer in the soaring programme. Sully was a few months from graduating as the "Outstanding Cadet in Airmanship" and then he went on to greater heights, landing with global acclaim in the Hudson River on 15 January 2009.

When I heard of Sully's demeanor, I remembered the training we learned along the Rampart Range of Colorado. Sully was an expert glider instructor pilot at the Academy. You would plan to return to where you started with your glider intact but you knew when the thermals had stopped lifting your glider, the only way was down. In many ways, Sully's Hudson River landing was like hundreds of the glider landings he would have made years ago as a cadet.

There's another part of Sully's demeanor that bears mentioning. When he walked the cabin before abandoning the Airbus to the Hudson, he left a book on ethics in the cargo hold. Since the river landing, Sullenberger has contacted Fresno State University library officials and asked for an extension and waiver of overdue fees because the book was in the airliner's cargo hold. The library was having none of it. The overdue fees are waived, lost book fees absolved and people checking out the book next month will notice the replacement edition bears a template dedicated to Chesley Sullenberger.

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My flying set on Flickr.

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