Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger IIIHe famous a passenger plane landed on the Hudson River in 2009, commented on the fatal aircraft collision that took place over the Potomac River on Wednesday evening.
“We literally had to learn important lessons with blood too often, and we finally got further, where we could learn from incidents and not accidents,” said Captain Sullenberger at the New York Times.
Sullenberger explained the exhaust valve that “everything is more difficult” while flying at night. He noted that although the ability of the pilots to see may have been influenced by the darkness, “we don’t know” or that was the case.
“I’m just broken,” said Sullenberger. “We have a duty to learn and improve from every failure.”
Search and rescue efforts are seen around a wreckage in the Potomac River of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, early Thursday morning on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, VA. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP photo)
American Airlines CEO expresses ‘deep sorrow’ after the collision in the air
At around 9 p.m. local time on Wednesday evening, one Army Black Hawk collided With an American Airlines -plane near Reagan National Airport outside Washington, all 67 people on board both aircraft are supposed to be dead.
John Donnelly, head of the District of Columbia Fire Department, said on Thursday morning that the authorities did not believe that there were survivors, and the mission shifted “from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.”
Part of the wreck is seen as life boats in the waters of the Potomac River after an airplane on the approach of Reagan National Airport on January 30, 2025 against the river near Washington, DC had crashed. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty images)
Hegseeth shares details about Black Hawk Chopper Training Flightt
President Donald Trump The deadly crash called a “dark and unbearable night in the capital of our nation and in the history of our nation, and a tragedy of terrible proportions.”
“Together we take comfort in the knowledge that their journey did not end in the cold waters of the Potomac, but in the warm hug of a loving God,” Trump said.
In a video statement, Minister of Defense Pete Hegseeth confirmed that the Department knows “on our side involved. It was a fairly experienced crew, and that was a required annual night evaluation. They had night vision glasses.”
Transport secretary Sean Duffy, who was sworn in hours before the collision, said: “Everything was standard” before the crash. He also promised to get answers to the families of the victims and the American people.
All 155 people on board US Airways Flight 1549 were on the wings of the plane where Captain “Sully” landed safely in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009. (American Veterans Center)
Click here to get the Fox News app
In January 2009, Sullenberger safely landed an Airbus A320 in the Hudson River after touching a herd of birds that both engines disabled shortly after taking off; All 155 people on board survived. His heroic actions, later called the ‘Wonder on the Hudson’, were depicted in the film ‘Sully’ of 2016 with Tom Hanks.
The Associated Press has contributed to this report.
