NBC News32%

Sully Sullenberger, ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ pilot, says he has Alzheimer’s disease 53%

By Daniel Arkin41%

7/14/2026, 5:00:05 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 11 faulty reasoning types, including Bandwagon, In-Group Bias, and Appeal to Authority, with Halo Effect as the most egregious example at 29.2% saturation with 96 hits. Analysis detected 396 faulty-reasoning hits from 329 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 51.7% and a BS Rank of 53% (10,091 of 21,198 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 52.40% of the article peer group.

Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the retired pilot who successfully landed a commercial airliner filled with passengers on the Hudson River after the plane lost thrust in both engines, announced Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. 
“It is early stage. 
For now, this means a name may not come easily to me, I forget a story I have recently told, or I don’t sleep as well, but I am in the beginning of this long journey,” Sullenberger, 75, said in a statement on his website. 
Sullenberger said he hopes that by sharing the news of his diagnosis, “other families living in the shadows with this disease will feel they too can step forward.” 
“Though it may impact my memory of the past, this diagnosis will not prevent me from looking forward to and appreciating our future,” Sullenberger said. 
“I will navigate this chapter with my wonderful family by my side.” 
Sullenberger earned international acclaim after he managed to safely land US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River on Jan. 15, 2009, after both engines got knocked out by a collision with birds. 
All 155 people aboard survived. 
The water landing came to be known as the “Miracle on the Hudson.” 
Clint Eastwood dramatized Sullenberger’s heroic exploits in the 2016 film “Sully,” starring Tom Hanks in the title role. 
Sullenberger retired in March 2010 after three decades as a professional pilot. 
In recent years, Sullenberger established himself as a prominent advocate for aviation safety. 
“Over the years, when people would ask about the successful outcome of Flight 1549, I would say that ‘courage can be contagious,’ and on that day it helped everyone band together to get everyone off that airplane successfully,” Sullenberger said in Tuesday’s statement. 
“Now we need that courage to battle this disease. 
I am now part of a larger community with many of you, and we will be courageous together,” he added. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 1.1%NBC News: 2.0%Confirmation Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.9%NBC News: 0.8%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 1.5%Daniel Arkin: 3.2%NBC News: 2.9%Availability Heuristic1.5%This article: 5.5%Daniel Arkin: 0.9%NBC News: 0.8%Representativeness Heuristic5.5%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.5%NBC News: 0.5%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 1.7%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 5.6%NBC News: 6.1%Framing Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.2%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.9%NBC News: 0.3%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.1%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 8.8%Daniel Arkin: 3.3%NBC News: 1.8%Optimism Bias8.8%This article: 3.6%Daniel Arkin: 0.8%NBC News: 1.3%Pessimism Bias3.6%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 14.8%NBC News: 6.9%Negativity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 1.2%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.8%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.1%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 14.6%Daniel Arkin: 2.8%NBC News: 1.5%In-Group Bias14.6%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.4%NBC News: 0.3%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 29.2%Daniel Arkin: 5.9%NBC News: 4.1%Halo Effect29.2%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.3%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 1.6%NBC News: 1.3%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.5%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.6%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.3%Straw Man0.0%This article: 13.7%Daniel Arkin: 3.9%NBC News: 2.8%Appeal to Authority13.7%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.3%NBC News: 1.1%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.5%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.8%NBC News: 3.2%Hasty Generalization0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.2%Red Herring0.0%This article: 19.1%Daniel Arkin: 1.5%NBC News: 0.8%Bandwagon19.1%This article: 2.7%Daniel Arkin: 6.7%NBC News: 5.0%Appeal to Emotion2.7%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.7%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 13.1%Daniel Arkin: 3.6%NBC News: 1.9%Post Hoc (False Cause)13.1%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.3%NBC News: 0.5%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.1%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.1%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 1.1%NBC News: 1.5%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.8%NBC News: 1.4%Ambiguity (Equivocation)0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.1%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.1%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 3.0%NBC News: 1.7%Unattributed Quote0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 1.0%NBC News: 1.2%Quote-first Misdirection0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 4.6%NBC News: 4.2%Biased Writer Voice0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 1.3%NBC News: 1.1%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.5%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Daniel Arkin: 0.0%NBC News: 0.2%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 8.5%Daniel Arkin: 0.7%NBC News: 0.5%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…8.5%

329 words analyzed.

Speakers

2speakers60%attributed speech131writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Sully Sullenberger • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 37 words • 0.0% coverageSully Sullenberger • 4 words • 0.0% coverageSully Sullenberger • 45 words • 0.0% coverageSully Sullenberger • 28 words • 100.0% coverageSully Sullenberger • 25 words • 0.0% coverageSully Sullenberger • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 33 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 0.0% coverageSully Sullenberger • 43 words • 0.0% coverageSullenberger • 9 words • 0.0% coverageSullenberger • 20 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Sullenberger

100%flagged-word coverage
29 attributed words15% of attributed speech100% writer coverage

No manipulation-pattern hits were found in this speaker's attributed words or the writer's voice.

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.