Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III, the American hero who piloted the “Miracle on the Hudson” flight, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
“I recently found out I have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease,” the pilot, 75, said in an interview with People published on Tuesday, July 14. “It is early stage. 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.”
Sullenberger received his diagnosis in August 2025, and has since been learning about the condition — a type of dementia that affects a person’s memory, thinking and behavior, per the Alzheimer’s Association. Symptoms can eventually be severe enough to interfere with a person’s daily life and tasks.
“My doctor, Dr. Gil Rabinovici with UCSF Medical Center, has opened my eyes to the prevalence of Alzheimer’s,” he shared. “This disease, he has told me, spares no age group and impacts millions of people around the world. It is the unwanted visitor at the door.”
Sullenberger previously served in the United States Air Force before becoming a commercial airline pilot. He became a household name in January 2009, after he heroically landed US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River after birds hit the plane, disabling its engines.. All 155 people aboard the aircraft survived. Tom Hanks eventually portrayed Sullenberger in the 2016 biopic Sully, which detailed the incredible water landing.
Following the incident, Sullenberger became an advocate for aviation safety. In 2021, then-president Joe Biden nominated Sullenberger as the United States’ ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization in 2022.
“This new phase of my life has challenged what it means to be of service,” he reflected on Tuesday. “And the answer is to speak up. It is my hope that by sharing this, other families living in the shadows with this disease will feel they too can step forward. And about hope. So many people told us after Flight 1549, that the outcome gave them hope. Lorrie, my incredible partner of 37 years, says we can all use a little of that hope right now.”
Sullenberger has been married to wife Lorraine “Lorrie” Henry since 1989. The couple share daughters Kate and Kelly whom they welcomed via adoption.
Henry expressed her appreciation for her husband and his strength upon receiving his diagnosis.
“Just as he was the same steady person before and after Flight 1549, he is the same steady person now, before and after this diagnosis,” Henry told the outlet. “That strength and steadiness is guiding us as a family. We’re supporting him on this journey that we now walk with so many other families. Though the future is uncertain, we continue to live our lives, have hope, and find joy in the everyday.”
