Capt. ‘Sully’ and Passengers Share How Their Lives Have Changed 15 Years After ‘Miracle on the Hudson’

It’s been 15 years since the “Miracle on the Hudson,” when US Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency landing in the Hudson River. But Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III still feels the weight of saving all 155 people on board.

“My definition of success for that flight was complete, absolute: If even one person had died, I would have considered it a tragic failure,” the 72-year-old now-retired pilot tells PEOPLE. “I couldn’t celebrate any of this.”

The stunning landing thrust Sullenberger into the spotlight with honors that included an invitation to former President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration, a dramatized retelling of the crash in 2016. Dirty and the Sullenberger Aviation Museum, which now houses an Airbus A320.

Still, he says he remains mindful of the fact that while the world may have celebrated what happened that day, “it was still traumatic for everyone on the plane and their families.”

This is what Captain Sully saved from the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ flight that landed 10 years ago today

Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III speaks on Paleylive: “Miracle on the Hudson: How ‘Sully’ and Flight 1549 Inspired a Nation” at the Paley Center for Media in New York, NY on January 11, 2024.

Courtesy of The Paley Center for Media

Passenger Brad Wentzell, who was sitting in seat 21C, still remembers the “massive crash” after the plane hit a flock of geese as they departed LaGuardia Airport in New York.

“I had a perfect view of that left engine that I was sitting on, and it was on fire. There were sparks, flames coming out,” he says. “You just knew something was wrong.”

According to an audio recording of Sullenberger’s conversation with air traffic control, the Air Force veteran told the controller that the plane had “lost thrust in both engines.” Although the controller cleared the plane to return to LaGuardia and later offered nearby Teterboro Airport as another option, the pilot was convinced there was another choice. “We can’t do that,” he said. “We’ll be in the Hudson.”

Wentzell, 46, says he felt like Sullenberger was doing “the best job” he could amid their terrifying descent as flight attendants yelled to prepare for a crash.

The couple who survived Sully’s ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ landing have since married – and a third child is on the way!

But the North Carolina man chose not to bow his head, thinking they were all “done.” Wentzell, who at the time was traveling 49 to 50 weeks of the year for work, says his decision, which he doesn’t “advise,” may have given him an edge.

What also calmed him was imagining his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter with him.

“Every dad knows the smell of his kids — a combination of bath, mischief, baby powder,” he says. “I could physically feel it and I was very calm at that time of panic. For whatever reason, it calmed me down. It straightened me out for a second, where I could actually absorb the dying.”

Passenger Brad Wentzell took photos after US Airways Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009.

Brad Wentzell

Because he could think clearly, Wentzell was able to help other passengers get to safety, including mom Tess Sosa and her baby.

“In addition to people grabbing their things, which slowed things down, there was also a crowd on the wing because there was no more room to step,” he says.

“I said, ‘If you don’t come back and help her, you’re not going to sleep a day in your life,’ and then I made a decision that, in my opinion, changed my life,” Wentzell adds. “I chose help over myself.”

Miracle on the Hudson: Survivors speak openly about how the accident changed their lives, 10 years later

Sullenberger says one of the reasons the crash still resonates all these years later is that it “gave people hope” and was a “bright spot” during the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

“This was the good news people needed to hear to convince them that human nature is not just self-interest and greed, as it seemed at the time, but that we all have the potential to rise to the occasion, work together and save every life,” he notes. .

Michael Leonard, who worked for Belk department stores at the time, was on the flight with colleagues. He recalls working to push people to ferry workers as passengers stood on the wings of the plane, helping others – including his boss – who ended up in the frigid waters.

During the terrifying ordeal, the 52-year-old says it never crossed his mind that he might die.

“It wasn’t until the Monday after the accident that my company brought in a therapist for the six of us [were] on a flight to talk to them,” he says. “And I’m sitting there with five colleagues, all women I work with, and I’m listening to their stories, and every one of them makes me cry.”

Air passengers wait to board a ferry to be rescued on the wings of a US Airways Airbus 320 jet that plunged safely into the frigid waters of New York’s Hudson River after a flock of birds damaged both engines. Steven Day/AP/REX/Shutterstock

Leonard, also from Charlotte, says it took him weeks to “understand and process what happened,” adding that it “changed my whole life in a big way.”

Sullenberger, who is an author and former ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization, says the incident was “life-changing” for him as well.

“I have a richer, more fulfilling life than before,” he says. “I’m doing things professionally as a keynote speaker that I never expected. I never thought I’d be good at it. I’ve never been one to seek the limelight or want to be the life of the party, or [was] comfortable talking in front of large groups, and now it’s amazing what you can learn to do and become good at.”

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What happened that day also affected the passengers.

“[The passengers] they feel that they have been given a second chance in life, they have changed their direction and [are] trying to live a truer way, a more authentic life, what they really wanted to do, what really mattered to them,” says Sullenberger.

Some, like Leonard and Wentzell, have made major changes in their lives, from relationships to jobs. After making a career breakthrough, Lawrence now owns his own company and has flown around the world 15 times.

“I could go tomorrow,” Leonard says. “Doing something simple and easy, you might just walk away, so why not take a chance?”

Brad Wentzell on a raft after an accident in 2009 (left). Brad Wentzell 2023 (right).

Brad Wentzell

Another thing that is important to many survivors is that they get a chance to spend time with each other.

Leonard says he calls his companions “crash buddies.”

“I am very much in touch with five former work colleagues,” he shares. “There is a group of us that meets regularly.” He adds that he plays poker with another survivor.

Captain ‘Sully’ and passengers reunite for ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ anniversary: ​​’We’re like an extended family’

Thursday night, Sullenberger, passengers Barry Leonard and Pam Seagle, first responders Dr. Hilda Roque, Katie Couric and Dirty producer Allyn Stewart gathered for a partial reunion at the Paley Center for Media in New York. Tom Hanks, who played “Sully” in the Clint Eastwood-directed film, appeared via pre-recorded video. Among the audience were other passengers.

Flight 1549 First Officer Jeff Skiles says the event provided a great opportunity to see several passengers in person.

“We stay in touch and will be in touch, I’m sure, for the rest of our lives,” says the American Airlines pilot.

Katie Couric, Capt. Jeff Skiles and Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III appear on Paleylive: “Miracle on the Hudson: How ‘Sully’ and Flight 1549 Inspired a Nation” at the Paley Center for Media in New York, NY on January 11, 2024 .

Courtesy of The Paley Center for Media

“Those of us who were on the plane — the passengers and the crew — when we talk to each other, we sort of understand,” says Sullenberger. “We understand what each other goes through because we go through the same things ourselves.”

According to Sullenberger, “Miracle on the Hudson” showed that despite the divisions, Americans “are all more alike than we are different.”

“I think one of the things this story has done is remind people of the potential that we have and that it’s still a source of hope [despite] how divided we are,” he says. “Ultimately, we’re going to do what we can and make life better for the next generation.”

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