Flight 1549 Pilot 'Trying to Forgive Myself'

Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger is often called a “hero” for successfully landing US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River, but Sullenberger doesn’t feel like a hero. “One of the hardest things for me to do was to forgive myself for not having done something else. Something better,” he told Katie Couric last night on 60 Minutes, in his first major post-crash interview.

Landing the plane in the water wasn’t easy, but “I was sure I could do it,” he said. “In many ways, my entire life up to that moment had been a preparation to handle that particular moment.” When asked if he prayed at any point, Sullenberger replied, “I would imagine somebody in back was taking care of that for me while I was flying the airplane.” (More Chesley Sullenberger stories.)