This is Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. This man was the pilot of US Airways flight 1549. If you don't know this story you have been living in a cave somewhere. This is the plane that landed in the Hudson river in New York City and all the passengers survived due to the courage of this man and the crew. I have heard this story for weeks, but not until yesterday did it really affect me. I watched Mayor Mike Bloomberg give the key to the city to Sully and the crew of the famous flight. Sully went to the microphone and said "This is not about me, this is about the crew". Excuse me? As much as I appreciate what he says here, this is surely not the case. Sully was flying the plane. When he realized the engines were destroyed by a flock of Canadian geese (damn Canadians), he radioed the tower. The air traffic controllers told him to return to the airport. He knew that if he did what they suggested he would have landed on a hard surface, maybe even into a building. He chose the Hudson River. He made an unbelievable landing on water. Personally, I think it's because the Hudson is filled with garbage and bodies of mafiosos. I would not be surprised if he landed on Jimmy Hoffa.
How often do we get an opportunity to claim that we saved someones life? This guy can claim to save 155 lives, but it doesn't end there. What if he did what the air traffic controllers said to do? How many more lives did he save? It's exponential.
I elect Sully, the hero of the decade.
Other Sully's include:
Sully, from the Pixar film - Monsters Inc.
Biff and SULLY, the construction workers on Sesame Street. I think Sully was the one with the orange bumper cap.
Anyway...I just wanted to share this story. It brought tears to my eyes. It's just awesome.
Sully Rocks.
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