Biden nominates 'Miracle on the Hudson' pilot Sullenberger for ambassadorship

Retired pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger – whose heroic and deft piloting skills saved the lives of passengers and crew when he landed his disable commercial jet on the Hudson River in 2009 – is among nine nominees President Biden has recently named for an ambassadorship.

In making the announcement Tuesday, Biden also named four other political appointees and four career government officials.

The political appointees include Tom Nides, a banking executive and former deputy secretary of State, for the Jerusalem post; Julianne Smith, a longtime foreign policy adviser to Biden, for the NATO position in Brussels; and Ken Salazar, a former U.S. Interior secretary, for the Mexico City post, according to Politico. 

Sullenberger will be nominated as the U.S. representative to the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization. The results of his efforts on Jan. 15, 2009, are popularly known as the "Miracle on the Hudson" and resulted in a movie and other  fame for Sullenberger.

Sullenberger campaigned for Biden in 2020.

The fifth political appointee is Cynthia Ann Telles, a clinical professor in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry is up for the ambassadorship to Costa Rica, Politico also reports.