'Miracle on the Hudson' pilot Sully Sullenberger said he'll only fly with airlines that block the middle seat during the pandemic

• Aviation safety expert and famed pilot Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III said that during the pandemic, he will only fly on airlines that leave middle seats empty.

• Sullenberger, who is known for landing a damaged plane on the Hudson River in 2009, saving all 155 people on board, cited a study from MIT that found that leaving middle seats empty halves the risk of catching the novel coronavirus during a flight.

• Sullenberger's comments came during a podcast interview with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. He also criticized the federal government for failing to develop aviation safety standards during the pandemic.

Airlines have been divided over whether blocking middle seats on airplanes during the coronavirus pandemic is worthwhile, and whether it really makes flying safer.

Now, one of the most authoritative figures in aviation safety has weighed in -- and he doesn't want anyone sitting next to him.

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Captain Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III, the pilot famous for landing a damaged plane on the Hudson River with no fatalities in 2009, said that he only plans to fly aboard airlines that block off middle seats during the pandemic.

Sullenberger revealed his preference in an interview with Eric Schmidt on the former Google CEO's podcast, "Reimagine with Eric Schmidt."

Sullenberger cited a study from MIT that found that leaving the middle seat empty roughly halves the risk of catching the novel coronavirus during a flight.

"And I'll tell you, I'm going to fly on an airplane where the middle seats are kept empty, knowing that my chances of catching COVID are half that if middle seat were filled," Sullenberger said.

Sullenberger compared the approach to coronavirus risk mitigation to the rules and practices that govern commercial flight safety.

"Air travel has become ultra safe, something I wouldn't have thought possible 35 or 40 years ago," he said. "Airline accidents now are very rare. But we must keep on making investments to keep it either that safe or getting safer investments in people, in systems, in technology. "