Aug. 19) -- Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the hero pilot of what was dubbed the "Miracle on the Hudson," is driven to save lives because he couldn't save his father's, according to excerpts from his new book that were published Wednesday in the New York Daily News.
Sullenberger's father shot himself to death in 1995 at the age of 78. The dentist suffered from depression, the newspaper reported.
"I'm willing to work very hard to protect people's lives, to be a Good Samaritan, and to not be a bystander, in part because I couldn't save my father," Sullenberger writes in 'Highest Duty.'
The Daily Beast reported that the book, scheduled to be published in October, is the first of a two-book, $3.2 million deal with a HarperCollins imprint that Sullenberger signed after he safely landed US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River on Jan. 15. The engines on the plane failed shortly after takeoff when birds struck the aircraft. All 155 aboard were rescued.