Captain Sully
I Have Alzheimer’s
Published
Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger says he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s last year … though he’s not letting it stop him from living his life.
The pilot — who famously landed a commercial airplane on the Hudson River during a 2009 emergency — says he was diagnosed in August 2025 after he noticed he’d begun to forget things.
In a statement, Sully explained … “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.”
He says he didn’t realize how widespread Alzheimer’s is — especially among people 65 and older, though Sully notes it doesn’t spare any age groups — until his doctor gave him the numbers. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 7 million people 65+ live with the disease.
Sully’s wife, Lorrie says … “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.”
Remember … on January 15, 2009, a bird strike caused double engine failure to Flight 1549 — but Sully acted decisively, landed the plane in the middle of the New York waterway and saved all 155 souls aboard. The events of the flight were dramatized in the 2016 film “Sully,” directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Tom Hanks as the titular pilot.
Sully retired from commercial flying in 2010 … and he will be inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in September. He is 75 years old.
People was the first to report Sully’s diagnosis.