For co-author's daughter, 'Sully' is a hero during bittersweet movie debut

Most Americans remember when they learned that US Airways Flight 1549 had landed on the Hudson River in 2009. Like Nixon’s resignation or the first moon landing, the moment and imagery are sealed in the country’s subconsciousness.

It’s a hazy memory for Alexandra Zaslow, a point of frustration for the Today.com editor whose father co-wrote the definitive story of the day with Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. She’s filled that mental void with other treasured impressions of Sully, who acted to save the 155 people on board. Recalling one of those occasions, the emotion is raw in her voice.

How 'Sully' got the Hollywood treatment

“I will never forget the moment, I was a little nervous,” she says of attending the premiere of Sully. It wasn’t the first time Zaslow, 24, had seen the Clint Eastwood-directed film, which has topped the box office for the past two weekends. But the setting was different and more intense.

“I knew when my dad’s name came at the end, it would be emotional to see his name on a big screen, especially in front of Tom Hanks. ... And all of a sudden I was feeling (Sullenberger’s) hand on my shoulder and that comfort was just incredible.”

Zaslow’s father, veteran Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffrey Zaslow, co-wrote Sullenberger’s autobiography Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters, the basis for the film. He died in a car accident in 2012 before the movie was green-lit.

“It’s really sad he can’t be here to see it, but Sully has been here and made it easier on us,” she says.

Jeffrey’s relationship with Sullenberger turned personal as the two bonded over the story and a shared sense of integrity. It was a connection Zaslow knew existed but came into sharper focus after the accident.

Sullenberger "was heartbroken. He booked a flight and was in Detroit the next day” to be with Alexandra, her mother Sherry Margolis Zaslow and siblings Jordan and Eden.

“He wanted to speak (at the funeral), which was just interesting because he’s also a very private guy. I’ll never forget how he started: 'Many of you think I’m here as Captain Sully Sullenberger, but today I’m here as just Zas’s friend.' ”

Tom Hanks' 'Sully' soars at box office with $35.5M

Sullenberger went out of his way to include the family in the film's making, Zaslow says. She and Jordan went to the set to watch Eastwood shoot Hanks running through Times Square at 3 a.m. Screenwriter Todd Komarnicki told her he’d read her dad’s work and marked up his book with notes that helped guide the screenplay.

After sheepishly introducing themselves to Hanks at the premiere, the Oscar-winning actor told them he knew who they were: He’d heard about her dad’s work from Sullenberger. "It speaks volumes of Sully," she says.

When the book recently hit No. 1 on The New York Times Best Sellers list for paperback nonfiction, the retired pilot emailed her to share the news, and to tell her her father was on his mind.

“He has so much going on right now, and he’s thinking about my dad. I cried hysterically when I opened that email,” she says. “It’s his premiere and his story about his life and here he is caring about us.”