US Airways pilot who averted disaster flew at Nellis
When Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger flew F-4 Phantom fighter jets over Nellis Air Force Range he always prepared for the unthinkable emergency.
That training proved to be priceless Thursday when the US Airways jetliner he was piloting flew into a flock of birds, crippling the engines and forcing him to find a safe place to land on New York’s Hudson River shortly after he and his crew and 150 passengers left LaGuardia Airport.
He did just that. And all survived.
“Preparing for the unexpected is what we do every day,” 2nd Lt. Jennifer Richard, a Nellis spokeswoman said Friday when asked about what pilots do before they head out for Red Flag exercises. Sullenberger led other pilots on those missions in the early years of the air combat training program over the sprawling Nellis range.
“How this connects to any situation is based on risk management,” she said. “They are trained to identify quickly that a situation exists then analyze the situation and implement appropriate actions.”
Las Vegas resident Storrs Warinner, a Vietnam War F-4 pilot who, like Sullenberger, later flew passenger jets out LaGuardia in the 1980s, said Sullenberger was the right man to be in the cockpit of US Airways Flight 1549.
“As long as God put those geese up there in the traffic zone, I would say it was a good thing he had a pilot like this on the schedule,” Warinner said.
Sullenberger, 57, an Air Force Academy graduate in the class of 1973, flew fighter jets until 1980. He was a Blue Force mission commander when he came to Las Vegas for a few weeks at a time in the 1970s to participate in Red Flag exercises.
In that role he was tasked with orchestrating the plan that leads the friendly Blue forces against the would-be enemy Red forces in simulated dogfights and attacks involving the thunderous, Vietnam War-era Phantom jets.
His heroism Thursday prompted the Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, to issue statement from the Pentagon, saying, “His Air Force is proud. Not only did he show remarkable airmanship, but also the commitment of being the captain of his ship.”
Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.
