Book dossier

Highest Duty

by Chesley Sullenberger, Jeffrey Zaslow

On January 15, 2009, the world witnessed one of the most remarkable emergency landings in aviation history when Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger glided US Airways Flight 1549 onto the surface of the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 aboard. To Sullenberger, a pilot with forty years of flying experience who is also a safety consulting expert, the landing was not a miracle but rather the result of years of practice and training -- wisdom he gained in the cockpit of U.S. Air Force jets and in his Texas boyhood. Born to a World War II veteran and dentist father and an elementary school teacher mother, Sully fell in love with planes early. He learned to fly as an eager 16-year-old from a crop duster, an older neighbor in north Texas, who took off and landed his fragile plane on the grass field behind his house. While Sully's father encouraged his interest in flying, he also imparted stern advice he'd learned from his Navy service during World War II: a commander is responsible for everyone in his care -- and those words have shaped Sully's life and work and continue to guide him today. This book reveals the important lessons Sully learned through childhood, in his military service, and in his work as a commercial airline pilot.