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
Marcia Fudge
Housing and Urban Development Secretary. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki (L) looks on as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Fudge, the first Black woman to lead the department in decades, speaks at a news conference in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House. Photo by Michael Reynolds/UPI |
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Deanne Criswell
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Criswell testifies during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Capitol Hill. If confirmed, Criswell will become the first woman to lead FEMA. Pool Photo by Drew Angerer/UPI |
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Merrick Garland
Attorney General. Judge Merrick Garland (L) of the U.S. Court of Appeals was nominated by President Barack Obama to the Supreme Court in 2016 but the Senate refused to hold a confirmation hearing for him. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
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Xavier Becerra
Secretary of Health and Human Services. Becerra, California's attorney general, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., on February 23. Pool Photo by Sarah Silbiger/UPI |
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Shalanda Young
Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director. Young previously worked as a staffer for the House Committee on Appropriations. She is the first Black woman to hold the position. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
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Rep. Deb Haaland
Secretary of Interior. Haaland, D-N.M., speaks during a Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing on her nomination on February 23. She is the first Native American to ever be nominated to serve in the Cabinet. Pool Photo by Graeme Jennings/UPI |
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Adewale Adeyemo
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. Economist Adewale Adeyemo testifies before the Senate Finance Committee during his confirmation hearing on February 23. He served as deputy national security adviser in the Obama administration. Pool Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/UPI |
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Willliam Burns
CIA Director. William Burns has served in the U.S. State Department through
five presidential administrations, including as U.S. ambassador to Jordan under former President Bill Clinton and ambassador to Russia under former President George W. Bush. Pool Photo by Tom Brenner/UPI |
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Vivek Murthy
Surgeon General. Murthy testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill. Murthy will return to his role as surgeon general, a job he held during the Obama administration. Pool Photo by Caroline Brehman/UPI |
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Marty Walsh
Labor Secretary. Former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is a pro-union politician who previously served as the head of the Boston Trades Council. Pool Photo by Graeme Jennings/UPI |
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Katherine Tai
U.S. Trade Representative. The attorney currently serves as chief trade counsel for the House ways and means committee. Pool Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI |
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Michael Regan
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator. Regan, who has served as secretary of North Carolina's Department of Environmental Quality, he would become the first Black person to hold this position during the EPA's existence. He said he would focus on
environmental justice in the role. Pool Photo by Brandon Bell/UPI |
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Miguel Cardona
Education Secretary. Cardona, Connecticut's commissioner of education, speaks during his confirmation hearing to be secretary of education, the first Latinx person to hold the position. He began his career as an elementary school teacher. Pool Photo by Anna Moneymaker/UPI |
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Isabella Casillas Guzman
Small Business Administration. Guzman previously served as director of California's Office of the Small Business Advocate. Pool Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI |
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Alejandro Mayorkas
Homeland Security Secretary. President Joe Biden (L) looks toward Mayorkas, the first Latinx person to hold the position, before signing executive orders advancing his priority to modernize the U.S. immigration system. Pool Photo by Doug Mills/UPI |
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Jake Sullivan
National Security Adviser. Sullivan served as deputy chief of staff to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/UPI |
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Antony Blinken
Secretary of State. Blinken speaks during his confirmation hearing. He previously served as Biden's national security adviser during the Obama administration. Pool Photo by Graeme Jennings/UPI |
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Linda Thomas-Greenfield
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Thomas-Greenfield served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs, director-general of the U.S. Foreign Service and U.S. ambassador to Liberia in the Obama administration. Photo by Michael Reynolds/UPI |
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Janet Yellen
Treasury Secretary. The former Federal Reserve chairwoman, seen here receiving the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government in 2017, is the
first woman to head the treasury. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
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John Kerry
Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Change. The former secretary of state has helped spearhead programming on climate change and oceans for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Photo by Stefani Reynolds/UPI |
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Denis McDonough
Veterans Affairs Secretary. McDonough served as White House chief of staff during President Barack Obama's second term. He has also worked as deputy national security adviser and chief of staff of the National Security Council. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI |
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Brian Deese
National Economic Council Director. Deese
served as deputy director on the council and the Office of Management and Budget for the Obama administration. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI |
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Susan Rice
Domestic Policy Adviser. Rice, who previously served as national security adviser and ambassador to the United Nations in the Obama administration, speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., on January 26, 2020. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI |
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Gen. Lloyd James Austin III
Secretary of Defense. Austin, a former U.S. commander in Iraq, is the first Black leader of the Pentagon. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
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Jennifer Granholm
Energy Secretary. The former two-term governor of Michigan, advocated for clean energy in her state and helped the Obama administration build the multibillion-dollar bailout of Detroit's' auto manufacturers and pushed for them to invest in electric vehicles. Photo by Jim Watson/UPI |
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Peter Buttigieg
Transportation Secretary. The former mayor of South Bend, Ind., Buttigieg would be the first openly gay person in Biden's Cabinet
if confirmed by the Senate. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI |
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Avril Haines
Director of National Intelligence. Haines served as deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism and deputy CIA director in the Obama administration. Pool Photo by Joe Raedle/UPI |
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Dr. Anthony Fauci
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci will remain in his current role that he has held in the Trump administration. Photo by Al Drago/UPI |
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Jen Psaki
Press Secretary. Psaki has previously served as spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of State and held various communications roles in the Obama administration. In her new role, she has vowed to bring
"truth and transparency" back to the briefing room. Photo by Al Drago/UPI |
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Gina Raimondo
Commerce Secretary. Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo was also considered as a potential running mate for Biden, as well as a choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI |
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Samantha Power
USAID Chief. Samantha Power (R), who served as President Barack Obama's U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, is nominated to head of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Pool Photo by Anthony Behar/UPI |
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Tom Vilsack
Agriculture Secretary. Vilsack also served in this post from 2009 to 2017. He is a former governor of Iowa. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI |
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Xavier Becerra
Health and Human Services Secretary. The California attorney general, shown here speaking at the Democratic National Convention in 2016, is the first Latino to be
appointed to head HHS. Photo by Ray Stubblebine/UPI |
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Ron Klain
Chief of Staff. The former White House ebola response coordinator has been an adviser to Biden
for decades. Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI |
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Cedric Richmond
Office of Public Engagement Director. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., is former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. Pool Photo by Patrick Semansky/UPI |
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