Pilot known for ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ river plane landing reveals Alzheimer’s diagnosis

Chesley Sullenberger, 75, safely landed a US Airways flight carrying 155 people in New York’s Hudson River in 2009

Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger – the pilot known for the “Miracle on the Hudson” after safely landing a US Airways flight in New York City’s Hudson river during a 2009 emergency – announced on Tuesday that he was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

“For now, this means a name may not come easily to me, I forget a story I have recently told, or I don’t sleep as well, but I am in the beginning of this long journey,” Sullenberger, 75, said in a statement. “This new phase of my life has challenged what it means to be of service. And the answer is to speak up. It is my hope that by sharing this, other families living in the shadows with this disease will feel they too can step forward.”

About 7.4 million people aged 65 or older are living with clinical Alzheimer’s dementia, according to figures from the Alzheimer’s Association. Approximately three-quarters of them are aged 75 and older.

There is no cure for the disease, though medical treatments can mitigate symptoms and slow the disease’s progression.

Sullenberger, who served in the US air force, was flying US Airways flight 1549 from New York City’s LaGuardia airport to Charlotte, North Carolina, on 15 January 2009 with 150 passengers and five crew members on board.

Shortly after takeoff, the plane hit a flock of birds causing complete loss of thrust in both engines. Sullenberger determined the plane could not return to LaGuardia and instead pulled off an emergency landing in the Hudson River. Everyone onboard survived.

Sullenberger was later the subject of the 2016 Tom Hanks film Sully. In recent years, he has served as a corporate speaker as well as an aviation and safety expert.

“Over the years, when people would ask about the successful outcome of Flight 1549, I would say that ‘courage can be contagious,’ and on that day it helped everyone band together to get everyone off that airplane successfully,” he said in his statement on Tuesday.

“Now we need that courage to battle this disease. I am now part of a larger community with many of you, and we will be courageous together.”