Plane down: US Airways disaster miracle in Hudson River; Update: All survived? Passenger: “Everyone prayed”
Scroll for updates…Meet Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger:The hero of Flight 1549...
Photo credit: Janis Krums/Twitter ; hat tip – RadioPatriot and Alley Insider. Krums was on a ferry and took the photo with her iPhone. See also #1549 for real-time Twitter witness accounts.
Awful. Just awful. Coast Guard vessels and ferries have rushed to the scene of a US Airways crash in the Hudson River.
Can’t see them, but cable newsers reporting that passengers are standing on the wings in the freezing waters waiting for help.
WCBS2 in NY reports that about 60 people were on board the aircraft — Flight 1549, an Airbus 380 that took off from La Guardia Airport. Bound for Charlotte NC.
Update: FNC says 146 passengers on board. Pray for them all.
FDNY and EMS on scene.
Water taxis reportedly picking up survivors.
Speculation: The plane hit a flock of birds?
The plane is now being moved by rescue vehicles to the shore. FNC saying all the passengers survived. Amazing.
Screenshot from WCBS:
Consensus: The pilot and crew are miracle workers.
This will be one for the emergency preparedness and emergency responder textbooks.
Update 4:37pm Eastern. Passenger Jeff Kolodjay spoke with media. They smelled gas before crash. Explosion took place. Pilot told them to brace. A mom and baby were among survivors. “Everyone prayed.”
Kolodjay was soaked. Mobbed by reporters. Took forever for someone to offer him a coat.
***
The scenes bring me back to January 13, 1982. Will never forget the crash of Air Florida Flight 90 into the Potomac. Remember Lenny Skutnik? Thank God, today turned out better.
It happens sometimes: Lenny Skutnik will be watching television at home in Lorton, and suddenly, there he is on the screen — years younger — a bystander leaping into the icy Potomac River to rescue a survivor of the 1982 Air Florida crash. He is still embarrassed when people call him a hero for doing that.
“I wasn’t a hero,” he said. “I was just someone who helped another human being. We’re surrounded by heroes. What made this different was that it was caught on film and went all over the world.”
That day — Jan. 13, 1982 — was a tragic one in the Washington area. As a blinding snowstorm gripped the region, Air Florida Flight 90 clipped the 14th Street bridge on takeoff and plunged into the river, killing 74 passengers and four people on the bridge.
Amid the chaos and sadness, several acts of bravery stood out: a helicopter pilot who plucked survivors from the freezing river; a medic who climbed out to grab a victim too weak to help herself; two bystanders who could no longer bear to watch helplessly from the sidelines. One of the injured passengers, later identified as Arland Williams Jr. of Atlanta, drowned after passing the lifeline repeatedly to others.
They saved five people.
“Thanks to the people who got me out that day, I’ve lived another 25 years,” said Joseph Stiley, 67, a retired engineer living in Montana. “I got to see my children grow up, my grandchildren. I even have a great-grandson.”
It could be argued that the Air Florida crash ushered in an era of instantaneous you-are-there news coverage. Local television crews recorded nearly every moment of the rescue. Almost immediately, the chilling images went worldwide, to be repeated for years to come.
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“He never got fazed by anything. He was just so calm.”
January 17, 2009 04:20 PM by Michelle Malkin
37 Comments
Flight 1549 pilot: God bless Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger!
January 15, 2009 05:57 PM by Michelle Malkin
97 Comments
Categories: Flight 1549
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I’m watching this now on Fox. I just pray all are ok.
L
I also pray that all come out ok.
Good luck to them all.
Prayers!
Flight was from NYC to Charlotte, NC…developing.
If they are able to stand on the wings then they lucker that most air crash victims.
Wolf Blitzer is interviewing a passenger now.
Prayers that everybody got out and onto the ferries before the plane went under.
One passenger is saying he thinks everyone got off.
Someone get those pilots a stiff drink and a pat on the back.
Wow.
I have been on a flight that struck a flock of birds just before takeoff. It was scary but no real problems. Pray for the folks on board. I think they all got off. Thank God!
That’s one fabulous flight crew. A perfect landing. You can’t do any better.
Any video of the crash itself emerge yet?
Watching the footage and hearing the details – it sounds like many people witnessed a miracle today. And that pilot is a hero!
Any bets that PETA will be demanding airports be built away from birds? They’re insane enough to do it!
I hope everyone got off safely!
All safe according to passengers interviewed on CNN.
BTW, CNN (ouch) trumped Fox News and MSNBC.
Poor Fox News. Like a decade ago CNN is again the leader in breaking news.
My old employer. Thank God it looks like all are OK. The skipper looks like a real stick and rudder guy, even with that Airbus fly-by-wire system. Hats off to him.
Now, it’s just a matter of time before the media explains how damaging aircraft are to the environment. “Jet Kills Birds.” I can see it now.
MM yes I recall lenny and Potomoc.
Prayers to everyone on plane
FAA just confirmed (via Fox News) – all passengers got off the plane.
The revolution will not be televised, Chappy.
But it would seem you got to see a miracle today! Good trade-off, eh?
Apparently great job by pilots to set down relatively gently in the water and save all passengers.
See the flight path here.
An amazing cold-water ditch fer sure, av8tr!
UPDATE:
That is an Airbus 320, not an Airbus 380 (this is much, much smaller). Aircraft flew through a flock of geese on takeoff, pilots attempted to turn and return to field, had to ditch in the Hudson.
Kudos to the professionalism of the USAirways Flight Crew. True professionals.
Michelle, thanks for the linkage!
Andrea Shea King
The Radio Patriot
I imagine the pilots involved will not have to buy their own drinks for quite some time.
It’s clear that this pilot and crew had more guts and sense than a number of senators I know.
Great job! True heros.
Thank you God everyone got off the plane safely. Wow!
That GWB just won’t stop…has to be him…com’ on you lefties let’s hear it…you hate filled sick fools.
Everyone’s safe, great job by the pilot and crew..hat’s of to each and everyone.
True, A380 is a huge double decker superjumbo jet, and I doubt US Airways can afford to buy one. I have flown twice on A380 from JFK to Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and back. It’s a great plane.
Anyway, it’s a miracle
that everybody is safe and sound.
I remember when a flock of Canadian Geese took out an AWACS on Elmendorf AFB in 1995. I was in high school and could see the smoke at the base from my school several miles south. No one survived that crash.
Serveral SP’s were assigned to stand guard near runway positions and shoot any geese near the runway with prejudice shortly after that horrific crash.
Thank God all these people made it out safe and that the pilots pulled off what they did with no engines to speak of after the bird strikes.
Thanking God everyone is off the plane.
What a great pilot and crew!
A miracle, indeed.
When I saw the news story, a couple of days ago, saying that there had been no airline fatalities in 2 years, my first thought was “any day now, thanks to this.” I’m glad that all survived. Thanks to the pilots, whose skill saved them. That said…now the lawyers scramble to pass out cards and the lawsuits begin. I told my wife, “Give them 5 days. There’s money in them thar passengers”.
Praying on a plane? That HAS to be illegal. I am sure it, at the very least, violated someones rights.
WTG pilot AND crew!!!
Thanks for showing up and showing off YHWH!
“Everyone prayed”
I’m glad they did, and I’m glad that everyone is OK.
Let’s hope that those who prayed today continue to pray tomorrow.
We shouldn’t only pray in times of crisis… we should praise Him every day for who He is and all that we are thankful for.
(I’m saying this as much to myself as to anyone else)
Though it would be silly, and unlikely to go anywhere, would anyone really be surprised if some ACLU type attempted to sue those around them for damages because they were forced to listen to prayer… especially if the pilot or flight attendants took part.
Seriously, this is a great miracle of a story, and you’ve got to give it up to the amazing pilots here… But given all of the Newdowish type nonsense we’ve seen in recent years, my jaded mind immediately makes me think of those who would be outraged by prayer, the second I see prayer mentioned.
So, sorry for the downer… This really is an amazing story, especially if it is true that there isn’t a single fatality. Something tells me that most of these people will have a new lease on life too, once they realize that a minute or so one way or the other and survival may have been virtually impossible.
Sorry to say this but…I Hate Geese. On a lighter note, God can make possible what man cannot. The plane is replaceable, the people are not.
Low, slow, heavy, and directionally constrained yet he executes a successful ditch?
I don’t need to tell anyone this guy’s odds if he’s heading into the city tonight!
I am surprised that he was still at an altitude low enough for a bird strike and that he wasn’t able to get back to the airport on 1 engine. (Even driving an airbus) Poor guy didn’t have a lot of choices other than the river in that area.
Thank God everyone lived.
Yes, amazing that everyone got off safely.
I never understand the prayer angle.
Did the victims of a crash with no survivors not pray hard enough?
Does our omnipotent Creator say to himself, ‘Well, I was going to let everyone die on that one, but they seem to be pretty insistent that I not; maybe they have a point. Maybe I was a little hasty on that one. Maybe they’re right’.
a true miracle…and damn good pilots knowing how and where to put this plane down….give them a big raise….
Thank you God that everyone survived.
Some accounts seem to indicate both engines received bird strikes approx 40 seconds into takeoff (the other information not in the link I mention I heard from passenger accounts on Foxnews). It wasn’t until the left engine blew and started smoking and sputtering fire that there was a call to the passengers to brace for a hard impact. Previous to the left engine fire, of what I assume was his last functional engine, he was looking to circle back around for an immediate landing.
So all things considered he did an amazing job and it was a miracle no one died.
Miracle on the Hudson indeed. Our neighbor is a retired airline pilot and he can’t believe the pilot could do as well as he did. He says the plane could not have achieved enough speed to maneuver-what ever that means.
Some real heros in those small boats coming to rescue the passengers–panicked people have swamps boats before.
A miracle indeed.
During a crisis there never is an athiest when you need one.
God hears our prayers.
That was scary. I wasn’t sure if the cabin door was opened yet when the plan was about 70% submerged. But by then all were out.
Someone we know took a picture from an office window in a high rise. The plane had just ditched and a lot of the passengers were on the wings. No boats had arrived yet. Remarkable sight.
It’s a wonderful thing that everyone made it and an great job by the flight crew. The news reported that they were deciding whether to try for Teterboro airport to the west in NJ or to ditch it in the Hudson. My guess is they made the right choice. Well done.
PTL!!!
Bird strikes right after take off are not all that uncommon. 30 or 40 secs after take off means he was still relatively low.
Also… it was snowing here earlier today. Thank God the weather cleared and the conditions were VFR… (he could see the ground). If he was in the clouds or low visibility, he might not have been able to see the river and it might have turned into a horrible disaster.
This truly is a miracle and the aircrew done good! Being a former military aviator there is nothing that can do more damage to an aircraft engine and ruin your day than ingesting a flock of birds at a critical stage of flight (takeoff and landing). Nothing worse than that sinking feeling when running out engines, altitude, airspeed, and options. The good news store of the week, at least for those fortunate souls aboard the aircraft.
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE (mo-lone lah-veh) Translation: Come and take them!
Truly a miracle that all survived. Kudos to the flight crew.
My team was the first Coast Guard unit on scene when flight 90 hit the 14th Street Bridge in 1982. Everyone alive had already been pulled from the water. From that point on it was recover bodies and search for the black boxes. I lived in a wet suit for two and a half days with little food, no sleep and working in blizzard conditions. It was not fun. When ordered to return to base, I was numb in more ways than one.
Thankfully, all survived here. Passengers and rescue personnel have been spared. I love a happy ending, especially ones that begin in tragedy:-)
On January 15th, 2009 at 6:16 pm, alaskangrizzly said:
The birdstrike was probably shortly after rotation and engines were disintegrating to the point where the passengers noticed it 40 seconds into the flight. Have a look at what he had to fly over (assuming he took off from three-one at abot 40 seconds he would have been at about 1200 feet just west of Rikers island, the New York government retirement complex.)to get to the Hudson with his engines crapping out.
That had to be some pretty big birds.
Yeah, if memory serves me right of the AWACS that went down at Elmendorf in ’95 they only found 13 shredded corpses of Canadian Geese that took out #1 and #2 engines upon takeoff that sent the plane out of control into the woods 2 miles from the runway it attempted to lift off from.
Can’t imagine how much damage a bird would do to an aircraft engine when the plane is trying to gain altitude
On January 15th, 2009 at 7:05 pm, NJ-Aviator said:
What I was listening to at the time was saying it all hit the fan (pun intended) over the Hudson where he should have been high enough not to worry about it. It looks like they got fod-ded up on takeoff but were still producing enough power to get him over the northern part of Manhattan. What are the odds of both engines getting hit that hard.
Having been in the USAF, I’ve seen aircraft and the engines themselves that have taken bird strikes. Very nasty, lots of damage.
Thre have been many projects over the years to keep birds away from the ends of runways. I’m not sure if they’ll ever figure that one out.
I’m also glad that the pilot kept his cool and didn’t go into panic mode. My guess is he’s ex-USAF.
Telephone conversation overhead in the baggage claim area of the airport:
What a miracle. The pilots are heroes.
Question: Why can’t there be metal screens placed over the front of the engine housing, so nothing can enter the engines and cause this type of accident?
sbw999 – Any metal screen big and heavy enough to do that makes the engine almost useless. Those engines can pull people in if they’re close enough.
One of the standard engines for the Airbus 380 generates between 70 and 80 thousand pounds of thrust.
For the millionth time I am proud of my country.
Where else would a superb rescue effort like this take place, so quickly, so efficiently and without a single life lost?
All the training after 9-11 is what saved these people.
Thank you, George.
Lord, I fear for my country.
Not to rain on your parade sdillard, but the training after 9-11 was counter-terrorist training.
Praise be to the first miracle of the Reign of Obama.
On January 15th, 2009 at 7:51 pm, JHSII said:
The Air Force needs it’s potatoes peeled too I see.
Sorry Bill, I was an avionics specialist.
I can see how that would be beyond you though.
On January 15th, 2009 at 9:24 pm, JHSII said:
Yes, it is beyond me how the Air Force could trust you with anything other than a toilet brush.
And Bill attacks me here too.
Yep, BIll definately had SDS.
Socky – just in time too – he hasn’t even been coronated yet!!
*That’s the best “good news” story out of New York in a long time; The anti-9/11; God bless you “Sully”.
*I hear the geese were either heading south for some global warming, or for the inauguration of Dr. Do-little.
Awesome response today. I lived on a sailboat for 10 years (about 1/2 a mile south on the Hudson from where this plane landed today.)
Those big ferries that pulled up are NY Waterway boats that take about 75 to 150 commuters at a time back and forth from NY to NJ. Did anyone see the video of ferry passengers forming lines to rip out the life preservers from under the boat’s seats to throw out to the plane passengers standing on the wings?
New Yorkers are so cool during emergencies…especially when the entire Nation steps up (9/11) and has our back.
I’m most impressed with the fact that everyone survived. This is a testement to everyone involved, even to the construction of the aircraft itself. I don’t think the outcome would have been nearly as good if it had been in Russia or Malaysia, for instance.
Did the flight attendants pass out peanuts to all the passengers on the wings while waiting for the Coast Guard to show up?
Having grown up in Malaysia, I can assure you that there would be no survivors if this had been Malaysia.
Come on! If it were in Malaysia, with the same pilot, crew and airplane, it would have been easier as they won’t have encountered freezing water to boot.
The readiness of the rescue boats and even the ferry’s made a huge difference and no doubt drills and such in place since 9/11 contributed.
But I’d add that what saved these people was a well trained flight crew and probably a well trained air traffic controller. These two groups of professionals are among the best trained people on earth. Few do their respective jobs better or take their jobs more seriously than pilots and controllers.
Plane down: US Airways
disastermiraclesplashdown successfully accomplished with very human skill and courage and superb training in Hudson River.James Greenidge
Queens New York