Last Thursday CMS had the honor of hosting Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger”.  Captain Sullenberger is the pilot who safely landed US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River in January, 2009 saving everyone on board after his aircraft hit a flock of birds knocking out both engines after takeoff. Captain Sullenberger, who retired from US Airways after thirty years of services in March, 2010, is a recognized expert on airline safety.  He’s  served as an instructor and as the Air Line Pilots Association Safety Chairman where his safety work led to the development of the Federal Aviation Administration Advisory Circular. Captain Sullenberger was instrumental in developing and implementing the Crew Resource Management course that is used by US Airways.  Since 2007 he has run his own consulting firm, Safety Reliability Methods (SRM), Inc. which provides expert solutions to complex problems involving safety, high performance, and high reliability in the aviation industry. And, this past May he became the Aviation and Safety Expert for CBS News. Captain Sullenberger is  interested in learning more about what can be done to improve safety in the healthcare sector and visited CMS to see the cutting edge work we’re doing using simulation to help improve the quality and safety of care delivered to patients.