Biden nominates 'Miracle on the Hudson' pilot Sullenberger to be ambassador

June 15 (UPI) -- Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III, the pilot who landed a US Airways flight in the Hudson River after a bird strike, was nominated Tuesday to be an ambassador.

President Joe Biden tapped Sullenberger to be the U.S. representative on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Sullenberger was flying Flight 1549 on Jan. 15, 2009, when the Airbus A320 hit a flock of birds shortly after takeoff from New York City's LaGuardia Airport. The flight was en route to Charlotte, N.C.

Convinced the plane couldn't have returned to LaGuardia or made it to the nearby Teterboro Airport, Sullenberger landed the plane in the Hudson River, where all 155 people on board were safely rescued. No lives were lost and only minor injuries reported.

The flight was the subject of the 2016 Tom Hanks film Sully, directed by Clint Eastwood.

The retired pilot was among nine people the president nominated to represent the United States on the world stage.

They include"

-- Julie Chung as ambassador to Sri Lanka

-- Sharon Cromer as ambassador to Gambia

-- Troy Damian Fitrell as ambassador to Guinea

-- Thomas R. Nides as ambassador to Paraguay

-- Ken Salazar as ambassador to Mexico

-- Julianne Smith as permanent representative on the Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

-- and Cynthia Ann Telles as ambassador to Costa Rica