Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who heroically glided US Airways Flight 1549 onto the Hudson River after a bird strike killed the aircraft’s engines in 2009, has revealed he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in an exclusive interview with People magazine.
Sullenberger was diagnosed in August last year, he told the outlet, saying he noticed something was wrong when his photographic memory began to intermittently fail him.
“It is early stage. 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,” he told People, “but I am in the beginning of this long journey.”
In a statement on his official website, Sullenberger, who retired in 2010, began by acknowledging the support of his daughters, wife and granddaughter.
“Grandchildren are a game changer. Our granddaughter gives a whole new meaning to life,” he wrote.
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The revered former pilot was hailed a hero when he saved the lives of all 155 passengers on Flight 1549, and is now one of approximately 7.2 million Americans 65 and older living with Alzheimer’s, according to the National Library of Medicine. The prevalence of the disease is something he has only recently come to understand, he explained in the statement and to People.
“My doctor, Dr. Gil Rabinovici with UCSF Medical Center, has opened my eyes to the prevalence of Alzheimer’s,” he wrote.
“This disease, he has told me, spares no age group and impacts millions of people around the world. It is the unwanted visitor at the door.”
Capt. Chesley Burnett ‘Sully’ Sullenberger attends the opening of the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ at the Sullenberger Aviation Museum, displaying the plane that landed in the river, along with him, at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, N.C., on May 29, 2024.
Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images
His wife, Laurie, told People that she, her husband, and their two daughters continue to live their lives each day and remain hopeful and joyful.
“Just as he was the same steady person before and after Flight 1549, he is the same steady person now, before and after this diagnosis,” she explained.
“That strength and steadiness is guiding us as a family. We’re supporting him on this journey that we now walk with so many other families. Though the future is uncertain, we continue to live our lives, have hope, and find joy in the everyday.”
Sullenberger, who was portrayed by Tom Hanks in the 2016 biographical drama Sully: Miracle on the Hudson, says he hopes to use his status to raise awareness of the neurodegenerative disease that affects millions of people, a step that follows years of advocacy to improve safety standards and pilot training in the aviation industry.
“This new phase of my life has challenged what it means to be of service,” he told People.
“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. And about hope. So many people told us after Flight 1549 that the outcome gave them hope. Lorrie, my incredible partner of 37 years, says we can all use a little of that hope right now.”
“I will navigate this chapter with my wonderful family by my side.”
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