An updated repost, a look back at the twin miracles on the Hudson from twelve years ago today. On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency water landing in the Hudson River. If the plane’s pilots, Captain Chesley “Sulley” Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles had not glided the plane in at exactly the right angle and airspeed, it is likely that the plane would have broken apart and that all the 155 passengers and crew aboard could have died.
The landing is often called the “Miracle on the Hudson.” There was, however, a second miracle on the Hudson that day. Remarkably, New York harbor commuter ferries began arriving at the flooding plane less than four minutes after the crash. Had it not been for the ferries’ rapid rescue of the passengers from the icy waters, the “miracle” might have ended as a tragedy.
The plane’s rear bulkhead had fractured and the plane was rapidly sinking in the river. The water temperature was 36° F (2° C). The air temperature was 20°F (−7 °C). Passengers were standing on both wings, made slick by leaking jet fuel. Other passengers were in emergency rafts attached to the plane. A few passengers were in the water. If help did not arrive immediately, it was likely that many would die from drowning or exposure. Amazingly, NY Waterway’s ferry, Thomas Jefferson, under the command of Captain Vincent Lombardi, arrived at the stricken aircraft 3 minutes and 40 seconds after it hit the water. A second ferry arrived less than a minute later.
The ferry bow boarding ramps were almost 7 feet about the water level, too high for the passengers to easily climb aboard, so the crews lowered nets and ladders as the captains maneuvered their boats next to the sinking plane, in the several knot current in the middle of the Hudson River. Ferry passengers helped the crews distributing life jackets and in hauling passengers from the water.
Soon four other ferries arrived as did a Coast Guard rescue boat and the NYPD scuba team, by helicopter. Amazingly, all 155 people aboard the plane were rescued from the water with only minor injuries. Of the 155, 135 were rescued by harbor ferries.
Captain Sullenberger was the last person off the plane, making sure that no one was left aboard before he got in one of the rafts. He was rescued by the ferry Athena.
A decade later, when looking back at the miracles of that bitterly cold day, Captain Sullenberger observed, “When we work together; when we remember our common humanity, there is little that we cannot accomplish.”
One of the big ‘takeaways’ of the day was how unplanned the arrival of the civilian rescue boats were. They immediately responded, without waiting for CG or NYP direction, in response to the almost universal creed of mariners to provide aid to save lives. It was this same impulse that had been previously seen during the 9/11 marine evacuation from downtown Manhattan. We can look back at those efforts with pride and cheers today, but hopefully their completely unselfish actions will continue forever even without such acknowledgement.