NBC’s “Today” show will still have the first interview with hero pilot Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III, but the date has been postponed from Monday, Access Hollywood has learned.
The pilot was set to speak to Matt Lauer on Monday morning in Washington, D.C. He’ll also no longer be appearing on CBS’ “The Early Show” and ABC’s “Good Morning America” later that morning, though it is unknown at this time if those interviews will also be rescheduled.
“Matt Lauer still has the first interview with Capt. ‘Sully,’ however, the interview has been postponed to a future date,” a source close to “Today” told Access on Sunday.
The Sullenberger family has hired a publicist to arrange his interviews since his role in what’s been hailed as the Miracle on the Hudson.
On Thursday, Chesley – an airline safety expert — saved the lives of 155 people onboard US Airways Flight 1549 with a heroic landing in the Hudson River after the plane struck a flock of birds minutes after takeoff.
“You’re not up in the air 3,500 feet and expecting to come down into the Hudson River and survive,” Denise Lockie, a survivor of the crash, told Access. “It’s unheard of. It’s never happened before.”
“I find him just to be a remarkable man,” she said of the 57-year-old pilot, who was the last to exit the plane after doing a final sweep.
His heroics not only earned the praise of his passengers, but President-elect Barack Obama, who reached him by phone later in the week.
An Air Force veteran, Chesley has also been a NASA consultant and remains President and CEO of Safety Reliability Methods, Inc., according to his resume, which was posted online by The Smoking Gun. He has worked for US Airways since 1980.
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