Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, whose calm under extraordinary pressure made him a symbol of American aviation, has revealed a new and personal challenge. In a statement posted to his website, the 75-year-old said he has been diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's disease.
The disclosure
Sullenberger said he learned of the diagnosis in August 2025, after noticing changes in a memory that had long been one of his sharpest tools. In the early stage, he said, a name may not come to him easily, he may forget a story he recently told, or he may not sleep as well. He framed the decision to go public as an extension of a life spent in service. "It is my hope that by sharing this," he said, "other families living in the shadows with this disease will feel they too can step forward." His physician, Dr. Gil Rabinovici of UCSF, noted that Alzheimer's "spares no age group" and affects millions worldwide.
Why the name is known
Sullenberger became a household figure on Jan. 15, 2009, when both engines of US Airways Flight 1549 failed after the Airbus A320 struck a flock of birds shortly after takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport. With no runway within reach, he glided the jet to a landing on the Hudson River, and all 155 passengers and crew survived. The episode, dubbed the "Miracle on the Hudson," was later dramatized in the 2016 film "Sully," with Tom Hanks in the title role.
A career beyond the cockpit
The Hudson landing capped decades in aviation and launched a second act as a safety advocate. A commercial pilot for three decades, Sullenberger went on to write a best-selling memoir, "Highest Duty," and to campaign for stronger aviation-safety standards. In 2021 he was nominated to serve as the U.S. representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations aviation body, and was confirmed by the Senate.
Why the disclosure matters
Public figures who speak openly about a diagnosis like Alzheimer's can chip away at the stigma that keeps many families silent, and can nudge others toward early evaluation, when planning and support are most useful. Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia, affects millions of Americans and progresses differently in each person. For a man whose name is synonymous with steady hands in a crisis, choosing candor about his own vulnerability is, in its way, of a piece with the reputation he earned over the Hudson.
