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.
The Air Force has embraced new technical approaches like open mission systems and rapid software updates for cutting-edge aircraft like the B-21 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Increasingly, though, the service is also working to apply these to its older, “legacy” aircraft, officials said this week.