Why Is Chesley Sullenberger Important

Kyle Konkol
Ms. Gallagher
Language Arts p.8
5 December 2014

Chesley Sullenberger

“I think it's become an economic necessity for people to be able to learn and grow throughout their lives, because most people can't get through their entire career with one skill set. We have to keep reinventing ourselves” (Brainyquote). Chesley Sullenberger is praised in society today for his outstanding braveness and ability to conform under mass amounts of stress. As a Pilot, Sullenberger knew the danger of the air and the importance of the lives around him. Even when Sullenberger was a child, his mother would constantly brand love and affection into his heart due to her experience as a caring first grade teacher. Sullenbergers mother taught him that all
He was devoted to safety and knew it was the most important aspect about flying. Approximately 30,000 commercial airline flights take off and land successfully each and every day in the United States without incident. It just happened to be that Chesley Sullenberger was piloting the plane that would not land safely as planned. Statistically speaking, For every million flights, only 2.4 do not meet their end destination. It just so happened that sullenberger was the pilot of the unlucky .0000024% of flights that would not meet their end destinations. However, since Sullenberger was an active ardent safety advocate throughout his career, he was able to think under pressure and perform on the day of “The Miracle On the Hudson”. In addition, Sullenberger was a Local Air Safety Chairman, and taught an airline safety class to great amounts of airline crewmembers. Sullenberger believes that it is the passengers who teach him more and more about airline safety. In his book that he wrote about his hero moment he stated, “My message going forward is that I want to remind everyone in the aviation industry - especially those who manage aviation companies and those who regulate aviation - that we owe it to our passengers to keep learning how to do it better” (Sullenberger 31). Sullenberger would constantly interact with the passengers while educating himself more
Sullenberger became a hero on January 15, 2009 when he and his crew safely and miraculously guided US Airways Flight 1549 to an emergency water landing in New York City’s very own, Hudson River. When the plane he was piloting impacted a large flock of Canada geese during liftoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport. The engines failed, and within 10 seconds neither of them were providing any thrust and could not sustain the weight of the plane. He announced over the intercom, "Brace for impact," and as best as humanly possible, took the plane to the water's surface. The maneuver was a success, and all 155 people aboard flight 1549 survived. The crew evacuated the passengers; Captain Sullenberger gracefully, and nobly, left the plane last. To this day, the incident was given the title of, “Miracle On the Hudson” and Chesley Sullenberger is widely know as a courageous and an amazing