The pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, who landed the Airbus jet on the Hudson River Thursday, saving the 155 people on board, is a former Air Force fighter pilot and graduate of the Air Force Academy. According to a profile on the Website for the safety consulting firm he founded, Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger flew F-4s during seven years on active duty, from 1973 to 1980, when he started with US Airways. Read more in an Associated Press report.
As the threat of Iranian-made drones grew, the Air Force rushed last year to equip F-15E Strike Eagles in the Middle East with a cheap, cost-effective way of defeating them. The service fielded the new capability in roughly a week.
