Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the celebrated pilot who saved 155 lives during the “Miracle on the Hudson,” has revealed that he has been diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
“I recently found out I have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. It is early stage,” Sullenberger, 75, announced in a statement on his website.
“For now, this means a name may not come easily to me, I forget a story I have recently told, or I don’t sleep as well, but I am in the beginning of this long journey,” he continued.
Sullenberger said his physician, Dr. Gil Rabinovici of the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, opened his eyes to how widespread the disease is.
“This disease, he has told me, spares no age group and impacts millions of people around the world,” Sullenberger wrote. “It is the unwanted visitor at the door.”
The diagnosis marks a difficult new chapter for a man whose life has been defined by service and extraordinary courage under pressure.
A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Sullenberger served as an Air Force fighter pilot, flight leader and training officer before becoming a commercial airline pilot. He later worked as an accident investigator, aviation safety advocate and U.S. ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Sullenberger became an American hero on Jan. 15, 2009, after US Airways Flight 1549 struck a flock of birds shortly after taking off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
The collision caused an almost complete loss of thrust in both engines, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
With few options and only minutes to react, Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles successfully brought the Airbus A320 down on the Hudson River. All 150 passengers and five crew members escaped the sinking aircraft alive.
The remarkable rescue became known as the “Miracle on the Hudson” and was later dramatized in the 2016 film “Sully,” starring Tom Hanks.
Sullenberger subsequently used his national profile to advocate for improved pilot training, adequate rest for flight crews, stronger technology and the continued presence of two pilots in commercial cockpits.
“So this new phase of my life has challenged what it means to be of service,” Sullenberger wrote. “And the answer is to speak up.”
He said he hopes going public will encourage other families confronting Alzheimer’s to emerge from the shadows and seek support.
An estimated 7.4 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with clinical Alzheimer’s dementia in 2026, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Nearly three-quarters of those patients are 75 or older.
Although there is no cure, FDA-approved treatments are available to address symptoms, while two medications may slow cognitive and functional decline in some patients during the disease’s earlier stages.
Sullenberger said the diagnosis would not prevent him from appreciating the years ahead with his wife of 37 years, Lorrie, their two daughters and their granddaughter.
“Though it may impact my memory of the past, this diagnosis will not prevent me from looking forward to and appreciating our future,” he wrote.
Sullenberger closed his announcement by returning to a lesson he learned aboard Flight 1549.
“Courage can be contagious,” he wrote. “Now we need that courage to battle this disease. I am now part of a larger community with many of you, and we will be courageous together.”
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