Will Speak At The Second Day Opening General Session November

Hailed as a hero after successfully landing his crippled Airbus in New York's Hudson River and saving all passengers on board, retired US Airways Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III will be a featured speaker during the second-day Opening General Session at NBAA's Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA2015), taking place Nov. 17 to 19 in Las Vegas, NV.

Sullenberger, along with his first officer, Jeffrey Skiles, effected a remarkable engine-out water landing in the river on Jan. 15, 2009, after the Airbus 320-200 suffered multiple bird strikes that disabled both power plants. They engineered the water landing so perfectly that all of the 155 passengers and crew survived, and the incident became known as the "Miracle on the Hudson." The Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators awarded the Master's Medal to Sullenberger, Skiles and the rest of the Flight 1549 crew for their efforts.

“We’ve asked Capt. Sullenberger to speak about the relevance of the 2009 water landing, about the significance of that in terms of aviation safety, about leadership, professionalism and preparedness training,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. “We’re very excited to have this living legend with us at this year’s convention.”

The Nov. 18 appearance at NBAA’s 2015 convention marks the second time Sullenberger has spoken at an NBAA event. In 2010, Sullenberger spoke at NBAA's Leadership Conference in San Diego. CA.

A 20,000-hour pilot, Sullenberger dedicated his career to aviation safety long before the 2009 incident. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Sullenberger served as a fighter pilot for the U.S. Air Force from 1975 to 1980. He advanced to become a flight leader and a training officer, attaining the rank of captain.

Prior to gaining worldwide attention, Sullenberger was an active and ardent safety advocate throughout his career. He was selected to perform accident investigation duties for the United States Air Force, and served as an Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) representative during a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation. Additionally, Sullenberger served as a local air safety chairman for ALPA, and was a member of one of its national technical committees, where he contributed to the creation of an FAA Advisory Circular.

Sullenberger also helped design US Airways’ CRM course, teaching it to hundreds of other airline crewmembers before his retirement.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.nbaa.org