HERO’S HORROR

Hero Pilot Capt. Sully Sullenberger Shares Heartbreaking Diagnosis

The captain behind the “Miracle on the Hudson” revealed he has early-stage Alzheimer’s.

Capt. Sully Sullenberger, who saved 155 passengers in 2009 by making an emergency landing in New York’s Hudson River, has been diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s. “I recently found out I have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. It is early stage,” the 75-year-old said in a statement. “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,” he added. The successful river landing, dubbed the “Miracle on the Hudson” occurred just six minutes after the US Airways Flight 1549 takeoff from LaGuardia Airport, due to a collision with a flock of Canada geese that disabled both engines. Five passengers were seriously injured but everyone survived. A National Transportation Safety Board official described the feat as “the most successful ditching in aviation history.” In 2016, Clint Eastwood made a movie about the harrowing landing, titled Sully and starring Tom Hanks.