On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549, an Airbus A320 on a flight from New York City's LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte, North Carolina, struck a flock of birds shortly after take-off, losing all engine power. Unable to reach any airport for an emergency landing due to their low altitude, pilots Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles glided the plane to a ditching in the Hudson River off Midtown Manhattan. All 155 people on board were rescued by nearby boats, with only a few serious injuries.

This water landing of a powerless jetliner with no deaths became known as the Miracle on the Hudson, and a National Transportation Safety Board official described it as "the most successful ditching in aviation history". The Board rejected the notion that the pilot could have avoided ditching by returning to LaGuardia or diverting to nearby Teterboro Airport.

The pilots and flight attendants were awarded the Master's Medal of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators in recognition of their "heroic and unique aviation achievement". It was dramatized in the 2016 film Sully, starring Tom Hanks as Sullenberger.

Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III (born January 23, 1951) is a diplomat and retired airline pilot best known for his heroism as captain of US Airways Flight 1549 that he ditched in the Hudson River in 2009 after both engines were disabled by a bird strike. All 155 people aboard survived. He has served as the U.S. ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) since February 2022. Sullenberger became an outspoken advocate for aviation safety and has helped develop new protocols for airline safety. He served as the co-chairman, along with his co-pilot on Flight 1549, Jeffrey Skiles, of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)'s Young Eagles youth introduction-to-aviation program from 2009 to 2013.Sullenberger retired from US Airways March 3, 2010 after 30 years as a commercial pilot. In May of the following year, he was hired by CBS News as an aviation and safety expert.Sullenberger is the co-author, with Jeffrey Zaslow, of the New York Times bestseller Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters, a memoir of his life and of the events surrounding Flight 1549, published in 2009 by HarperCollins. His second book, Making a Difference: Stories of Vision and Courage from America's Leaders, was published in May 2012. He was ranked second in Time's Top 100 Most Influential Heroes and Icons of 2009, after Michelle Obama.On June 15, 2021 President Joe Biden announced he would nominate Sullenberger as U.S. representative to ICAO with the rank of ambassador. He was confirmed by unanimous consent in the Senate on December 2, 2021.