We’re going to be in the Hudson January 15, 2012
Posted by cantueso in history.trackback
.
It was January 15, 2009
The captain was Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, 57, a former fighter pilot. With a call sign of “Cactus 1539″ the plane contacted the air traffic control in New York:
“Hit birds. We lost thrust in both engines. Returning back towards LaGuardia.”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
.
The Flightpath
S. Bollman under the CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Airways_Flight_1549.svg
But he could not go back, and when he saw he could not reach any other airport either, he told the controllers:
“We are going to be in the Hudson.”
The controllers at La Guardia saw the plane pass at less than 900 feet above the George Washington Bridge and touch down on the river in midtown Manhattan.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
.
.
The plane began drifting southward with the current. The cabin started to fill with water. The flight attendants told passengers to move forward by climbing over seats. One passenger was in a wheelchair.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.
The captain was the last person to leave the aircraft. The passengers stood on the slides and on the wings, some knee-deep in water. Some swam away from the plane.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.
Air temperature was about 20°F (nearly – 7ºC) and the water was near freezing.
Photo by Izno under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Airways_Flight_1549_in_Hudson_cropped.JPG.
Captain Vincent Lombardi with his ferry was first to arrive at the side of the plane. Captain Brittany Catanzaro arrived a few minutes later.
More help came, some by helicopter, and divers who jumped into the water to save people from drowning, ambulances ready to take people to the hospitals.
Some used a Jason’s cradle to fish people out of the water.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.
Not a single life was lost.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.
Wikipedia has the Coast Guard video of the splashdown : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flight1549CrashAndRescue.ogg
Time Magazine has a photo gallery at http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1872244_1826420,00.html
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.
The Hudson touchdown reminded many people of a Pan Am Flight that was forced to ditch in the Pacific Ocean on October 16, 1956, after the failure of two of its four engines.
The Coast Guard saved all 31 aboard. There were 44 cages of live canaries in the cargo hold, and they drowned. The pilot remembered them years later on his deathbed.
The picture is from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2009/jan/16/pla.. but this link no longer works.
.
.
I watched that live on t.v.- I still am amazed that everyone or anyone for that matter survived