Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook
Man Tries to Order Priciest Starbucks Drink Ever Total cost: $23.60 »

Inability to Stop Dad's Suicide Drove Hero Pilot: Memoir

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 19, 2009 1:29 PM CDT
Email

(Newser) – Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot hero of January’s Hudson River jet landing, was driven to help others by his father’s suicide, the New York Daily News reports. “One of the reasons I think I’ve placed such a high value on life is that my father took his,” he writes in a memoir. He strives “to not be a bystander, in part because I couldn’t save my father.”

“We need to try to do the right thing every time, to perform at our best, because we never know which moment in our lives we’ll be judged on,” Sullenberger writes in Highest Duty. He also confesses that before the Miracle on the Hudson he had a poor opinion of New Yorkers—but that day in the freezing water, if felt like all of New York “was reaching out to warm us.”

The book cover for Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters, by Capt. Chesley Sully Sullenberger, with Jeffrey Zaslow.
The book cover for "Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters," by Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, with Jeffrey Zaslow.   (AP Photo)
Chesley Sully Sullenberger III, pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, in February.
Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III, pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, in February.   (AP Photo)
Chesley Sully Sullenberger.
Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger.   (AP Photo)
Chesley Sully Sullenberger III, pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, in February.
Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III, pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, in February.   (AP Photo)
Chesley Sully Sullenberger III, pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, in February.
Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III, pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, in February.   (AP Photo)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

I'm willing to work very hard to protect people's lives, to be a good Samaritan, and to not be a bystander, in part because I couldn't save my father. - Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Be the first to comment on this story.

 
suicide • US Airways • memoir • father • book • good samaritan • publishing industry • Chesley Sullenberger • Flight 1549

More Newser Stories

Library Ditches Hero Pilot's Fine for Book Sunk in Hudson

Captain Sully Retires

‘Miracle on Hudson’ Plane Up for Auction

Sully Gets His Own Cocktail

Sullenberger Leads Rose Parade
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne