Woodlands Academy Alum Plays Herself in Key ‘Sully’ Role

LAKE FOREST, IL - A Woodlands Academy alum who has already blazed a trail for female pilots has tried her hand at movie stardom as well.

Lori Legat Cline, an airline captain and 1979 graduate of the all-female Lake Forest high school, plays herself in “Sully,” the No. 1 box office hit based on the events surrounding the “Miracle on the Hudson,” which was when Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger safely landed a plan on a New York City river after it encountered a flock of Canadian geese shortly after a takeoff in 2009.

Cline, the first-ever female director of flight safety for U.S. Airways, was part of the NTSB investigation into what went wrong with the infamous Flight 1549. She is one of four real-life pilots playing themselves in the film starring Tom Hanks and directed by Clint Eastwood.

Cline told her alma mater about her most memorable experiences from the filmmaking experience, including a chance to spend a day with Eastwood and attending the movie’s premiere in New York City.

While playing an important part in what will likely turn into one of 2016’s most popular movies, Cline’s contribution to society goes much deeper with her aviation accomplishments.

Just five years after receiving her first pilot’s license at age 18 in 1978, Cline became the youngest female airline captain in the world. She was a member of U.S. Airways’ first all-female Airbus 320 flight crew and became its first female check airman on the A320 (the role she portrays in “Sully”).

She hopes her accomplishments can inspire future generations of female pilots.

“The problem with my career field is that it doesn't occur to most women and so we remain about 4 percent of the pilot population,” she said. “You wouldn't know, but there is a huge pilot shortage that will occur in the next 10 years. Virtually half the seniority list at all legacy carriers will have retired by 2026. That means a wide open career field for today's young women, but they will need to prepare now.”

Photos submitted by Woodlands Academy