Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who saved all 155 people aboard US Airways Flight 1549 in 2009, says he now recognizes early warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease that he and his family overlooked for years before his diagnosis in August 2025.
Sullenberger and his wife, Lorrie, spoke publicly on “Good Morning America” about the subtle changes that preceded his formal medical evaluation, hoping to help other families spot the disease earlier than they did.
“One of the first things I noticed was that it was harder and harder to remember people’s names, even people we knew,” Sullenberger said. “That’s still an issue. Just forgetting things that I normally wouldn’t. Or repeating myself, not realizing that I just said that an hour ago.”
Lorrie Sullenberger said most people associate Alzheimer’s with its late-stage symptoms — severe memory loss, disorientation, an inability to manage daily life — because that’s what tends to make the news. The early signs, she said, look nothing like that.
“A lot of what I think people see in the news are late-stage Alzheimer’s symptoms. And so in the very beginning, they are so subtle. And my advice to someone would be, it’s what’s unusual for your person.”
She urged families to trust their instincts when something seems off, rather than waiting for symptoms severe enough to be unmistakable.
Sullenberger, now facing a disease with no cure, hasn’t lost his characteristic composure. “I’ve gone through harder things than this before,” he said.
That’s a reference to January 2009, when both engines of US Airways Flight 1549 failed after a bird strike shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport. Sullenberger glided the Airbus A320 onto the Hudson River, and every passenger and crew member survived, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The landing turned him into an international figure and earned the nickname “Miracle on the Hudson.”
Now Sullenberger is using that same platform to push a simple message: don’t wait. Early detection, he said, opens the door to treatment options, clinical trials and lifestyle changes that can shape how the disease progresses.
“An early diagnosis is so critically important. If you have doubts, get tested. Because the sooner you act, the more options there are, the better the outcome is likely to be.”
