Walking on water

Miracles do happen. Today, it happened on the Hudson River in New York. Shortly after talking off from LaGuardia Airport on Long Island, USAir flight 1549 flew into a flock of birds. The birds were sucked into the two engines on the wings, causing them to fail. Banking across Manhattan Island, the plane glided South along the Hudson River until the pilot decided to ditch the plane into the water. Angling the nose of the plane up while slowly descending, the plane was able to land smoothly and evenly on the waters’ surface.

Within minutes, the survivors of the plane crash started to exit the plane and stand on the wings and crawl into survival rafts. They were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by water taxi’s and ferry boats that were in the water and tracking the plane as it came down. Before long, rescue boats were on the scene, the plane was tied to one of the boats and all passengers and crewmembers were rescued. Other than a few broken bones and sore heads, there were no major injuries or fatalities. Some of the passengers were actually released and sent home shortly after being examined.

As someone who was on a plane that lost an engine on take off (out of Washington, DC), I know how unsettling the experience can be, even though our plane was still under control and landed safely, thanks to the skilled flight crew. The flight crew and the professional and civilian rescuers from today’s accident are all heroes today and deserve as much credit as they receive. I also compliment the passengers for remaining calm and evacuated the plane safely and in an orderly fashion. For the few individuals that were injured, we pray for their quick recovery and that they can return to their families.

Related articles:
NBC New York – “Miracle on the Hudson”
The Smoking Gun – “The Hero Of Flight 1549″
New York Post – “Hero Pilots Disabled Plane To Safety”
WCBS TV – “‘Miracle’ Crash Landing In The Hudson”
NY Daily News – “US Airways airplane crashes in Hudson River – Hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger III saves all aboard”
Times Online – “US Airways Airbus A320 crash lands in New York’s Hudson River”
The Wall Street Journal – “Safe Water Landing a Remarkable Feat”