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 When
pilot Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger’s jetliner wound up in the Hudson
River on Jan. 15, so did a book from California State University,
Fresno’s Henry Madden Library.
Sullenberger’s skill in landing his crippled aircraft allowed all 155
people on board to survive. Days after receiving a hero’s welcome in his
hometown, though, he did what any responsible library patron does: Told
the library he didn’t have books he borrowed and asked for an extension
to get them back or a waiver of overdue or replacement fees.
Fresno State’s connection came through an interlibrary loan request that
provided the book to a library near Sullenberger’s home town of
Danville.
Not only will Fresno State forgive the overdue and replacement fees,
Library Dean Peter McDonald said he will replace the book and add a
bookplate inside the cover dedicating the volume to Sullenberger.
“Here is a national hero you would think would have more important
things to worry about,” McDonald added. “The world now knows he
contacted us almost immediately about the books he'd borrowed that were
stuck in the hold of a downed plane. I'd trust my life to a man like
Sullenberger. Of course we’ll waive the fee.”
Sullenberger packed them into his luggage when he took off for the East
Coast before the fateful flight. The luggage from Sullenberger’s
aircraft was collected with other debris as part of the federal
investigation of what happened to force the landing on the river between
New York City and New Jersey.
The general subject of the book Sullenberger borrowed? Professional
ethics.
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