Press Release

Issued by National Business Aviation Association.

December 3, 2021

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) today applauded the U.S. Senate's confirmation of aviation champion Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III to serve as U.S. ambassador to the council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), noting the retired airline captain's longtime support of business aviation.

“Captain Sullenberger is one of the preeminent aviation figures of our time, someone whose name is synonymous with aviation safety and leadership,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. “He will be an exceptional U.S. representative to ICAO, and we look forward to working closely with him in the months and years ahead.”

The ICAO council is a permanent body composed of 36 member states, carrying out executive functions of the ICAO assembly, administering air transport, air navigation, technical cooperation and other functions.

At its 2017 convention, NBAA recognised Sullenberger with its American Spirit Award. He also served as a keynote speaker at the association's 2015 convention, detailing for attendees his “Miracle on the Hudson” water landing of a US Airways Airbus 320-200 in New York City's Hudson River on January 15, 2009, after multiple bird strikes disabled both engines. Famously, Sullenberger, first officer Jeffrey Skiles, and the cabin crew ensured the survival of all 155 passengers and crew.

With over 20,000 flight hours, Sullenberger advanced safety as a mentor pilot and accident investigator long before the 2009 incident. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, he served as a fighter pilot for the U.S. Air Force from 1975 to 1980. He advanced to become a flight leader and a training officer, attaining the rank of captain.