‘Miracle on the Hudson’ pilot Captain Sully reveals Alzheimer’s disease

The heroic pilot who safely left the plane that crashed in a river in New York in 2009 was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Captain Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger III, 75, shared the update on his personal website, writing that he was recently diagnosed and the disease is in its early stages.

“For now, this means that a name may not come to mind easily, I forget a story I recently told, or I don’t get much sleep, but I’m at the beginning of this long journey,” he wrote.

US Airways Flight 1549 crashed into the Hudson River on January 15, 2009, after both engines were disabled when it collided with a flock of geese shortly after takeoff. All 155 people on board survived.

Sullenberger’s quick thinking and calm demeanor were credited with averting disaster.

The former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot in California said in a post on his website Tuesday that his Alzheimer’s diagnosis “made him question what it means to serve” and found that “speaking openly is the answer” about the disease.

“Over the years, when people asked about the successful outcome of Flight 1549, I would say, ‘courage can be contagious,’ and that day it helped everyone come together and successfully get everyone off the plane,” Sullenberger wrote.

“We need that courage to fight this disease now. I am now part of a larger community with many of you, and together we will be brave.”

Sullenberger had been flying for 40 years before Flight 1549.

He retired as a pilot a year later in 2010 and continued to advocate for aviation safety.

In 2016, his exemplary emergency landing was dramatized in the movie “Sully,” starring Tom Hanks.