Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III is celebrating his daughter’s wedding day!
On Saturday, the former pilot, 72, told PEOPLE what it meant to see his daughter Kelly marry her husband Jack Szarabajka on Nov. 11.
“Lorrie and I understand that before the baby is born, people try to tell you how happy their wedding will be, but you really don’t understand that level of joy until you see your daughter’s face,” Sullenberger says of herself and her husband, Lorrie. “And the more people who love your children, the better.”
Sullenberger first shared the news of his daughter’s special day with followers on social media on Friday, when he posted a carousel of pictures and clips on Instagram and other platforms. “We were thrilled to see Kelly and Jack exchange their wedding vows last Saturday,” Sullenberger wrote.
“We celebrated long into the night with a large group of family and friends,” he added. “It was wonderful to see and feel their joy, connect with old friends and make new ones.”
“As Kelly said, ‘There are some moments in life when all the people you love are in the same room,'” Sullenberger concluded his post, quoting his daughter. “Welcome to the family, Jack! – Lorrie and Sully.”
Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III celebrates daughter Kelly’s wedding.
Captain CB Sully Sullenberger/Facebook
10 dramatic stills from the 2009 film The Miracle of Hudson’s Airplane Landing
The first carousel image on Instagram shows Sullenberger and Kelly slow dancing while she wore an elegant white dress. Another shot showed Kelly looking in the mirror next to her mother Lorrie.
Other photos included were a picture of Kelly walking down the aisle with her husband – who wore a white jacket and black bow tie – as well as a picture of Kelly holding her dad’s hand.
An additional family photo booth moment also made it into the collection, as did a clip of Sullenberger dancing solo with the crowd around him to Flo Rida’s “Low.”
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Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III celebrates daughter Kelly’s wedding. Captain ‘Sully’ and passengers reunite for ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ anniversary: ’We’re like an extended family’
January 2024 will mark the 15th anniversary of what became known as the “Miracle on the Hudson,” when Sullenberger landed US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River after the plane’s engines disabled when it hit a flock of geese.
All 155 passengers and crew members survived the January 15, 2009 incident.
Sullenberger and the passengers reflected on the heroic decision in an interview with PEOPLE last January. “I remember it clearly,” Sullenberger said. “It was a traumatic experience for everyone on the plane and for the families to go through something like that.”
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The current author and public speaker, who lives in Northern California, recently served as the US Ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and also renamed the Carolinas Aviation Museum in his honor to the Sullenberger Aviation Museum.
“We became close,” said the former pilot. “And so I think as the years go by, I feel more and more grateful that we were able to achieve such a good outcome and save every life.”
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Source: HIS Education