We, the Undersigned, hereby request President Obama to declare January 15 as Chesley Sullenberger Day.

On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549, which operated as a codeshare with United Airlines as United Airlines Flight 1919, took off from Runway 4 at LaGuardia at 3:26 p.m. with 150 passengers and five crew members. Flight 1549 was a domestic route, flying first to Charlotte/Douglas, North Carolina, with direct onward service to Seattle-Tacoma in Washington.

Flight 1549 had a crew of five: pilot, co-pilot, and three flight attendants. The captain was Chesley Sullenberger, a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and former USAF captain who served as a fighter pilot and flew F-4 Phantom IIs from 1973 to 1980. After leaving the Air Force, he began a career as a pilot for Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) and later US Airways after PSA was acquired by that airline. He is also a safety expert and a glider pilot. The first officer was Jeffrey B. Skiles, 49. The flight attendants were Donna Dent, Doreen Welsh, and Sheila Dail.

Thanks to the skill of Captain Sullenberger, all 150 passengers, 5 crew members, and 1 infant survived Flight 1549's emergency landing in NYC's Hudson River.... an unprecedented event in aviation history.