Thaindian News

Danville, Oct 14 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Chesley Sullenberger is the heroic pilot who landed the US Airways Flight 1549 on the river Hudson after a bird strike blew out both the engines. His new book Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters (HarperCollins) the first in a $3 million-plus, two-book deal, arrives in stores today.

Nine months earlier, on that fateful day, the 58-year-old pilot had calmly informed air traffic control: “We’re gonna be in the Hudson,” and then landed all 155 passengers and crew with barely a scratch.

He is a huge celebrity on the Internet. With 635,000+ Facebook fans and counting, he has achieved the type of status reserved for other celebs like Charles Lindbergh.

Several months after the crash, publishers started approaching him for his extraordinary heroic story that he realized there was money to be made from his story. Sullenberger spoke candidly about the need he and his wife, Lorrie, saw to strike while the iron was hot.

“We thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we had to take advantage of as soon as possible,” he said.

In “Highest Duty,” the father of two talks and discusses about ‘how the last talk he had with his wife before the crash centered on their serious money problems. Like untold numbers of airline workers, his salary had been cut in half and he lost most of his pension. At 58, the 29-year veteran was faced with having to find work outside the industry and possibly having to sell his house.’

“The margins above minimum (safety standards) are not as robust as they once were,” Sullenberger said. He said he hopes to use his celebrity to become “a mouthpiece” for airline safety.

“It was a time of great uncertainty, with two wars and the world economy falling apart. On a lot of fronts, people felt confused and fearful,” Sullenberger wrote. “They heard about Flight 1549 and it was unlike most stories. “… It enabled them to reassure themselves that all the ideals that we believe in are true, even if they’re not always evident.”