Hero pilot signs book deal to tell life story

U.S. Airways pilot Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger speaks after receiving his ''Key to the City'' at New York's City Hall, February 9, 2009.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who brought a crippled US Airways jet to a textbook emergency landing on New York City's Hudson River, will write a book about his life, but he won't give up flying.

Publisher William Morrow said on Friday the pilot would work with a writer to produce two books.

The first, scheduled for release late this year, will be his autobiography. It will touch on his childhood, military service and the events that made him a hero. The second book is yet to be determined.

All 155 people survived the emergency landing after the Airbus A320 was struck by birds, blowing out the engines of the plane, moments after take-off from New York's LaGuardia airport in January.

The former U.S. Air Force pilot's grace under pressure made him an American hero during glum economic times.

"Sully believes his life experience prior to the emergency landing was a preparation for that success; and that life's greatest challenges can be met if we're ready for them," William Morrow said in a statement.

A spokesman for Sullenberger's family, Alex Clemens, said in the statement that the pilot would be returning to his job with US Airways in June or July.

"While he has agreed to write a book about his life and the dramatic events of January 15, 2009, he is eager to return to his profession and the US Airways family of 34,000 employees in the near future," Clemens said.

William Morrow is an imprint of HarperCollins, which is part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

(Reporting by Claudia Parsons; Editing by Xavier Briand)