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Steven Day / AP file
In this Jan. 15, 2009, file photo, airline passengers wait to be rescued on the wings of a US Airways Airbus 320 jetliner that safely ditched in the frigid waters of the Hudson River in New York after a flock of birds knocked out both its engines.
This Sunday marks the third anniversary of the emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River near Manhattan. Several survivors will visit the airplane now housed at an aviation museum in Charlotte, N.C., some for the first time since the crash landing, and share memories of their experience.
On Jan.15, 2009, the Airbus A320 was beginning a trip from New York’s LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte/Douglas International Airport when it was disabled after striking a flock of Canada geese. Unable to return safely to an airfield, the crew ditched the airplane in the river and the incident became known as the “Miracle on the Hudson” after the safe evacuation of all 155 occupants from the still intact, but sinking, airplane.
Courtesy Beth McHugh
Beth McHugh, pictured with Capt. Chesley B. 'Sully' Sullenberger, right, and co-pilot Jeff Skiles.
“I was one of those people who really thought we were going to die,” Beth McHugh, one of the passengers aboard Flight 1549, told msnbc.com from her home in Lake Wylie, N.C. “I was in the back of the plane where the water was coming in quickly and didn’t realize that the front of the plane wasn’t underwater yet. When I got to the front of the plane, I thought I wouldn’t drown but maybe die of hypothermia instead.”
All aboard the flight survived, and the pilot, Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger was hailed as a hero.
The plane was recovered from the river, and since last June, the fuselage has been on display in a hangar at the Carolinas Aviation Museum, which is adjacent to the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport. Attendance at the museum has tripled, to about 3,800 visitors a month.
The airplane’s wings, where many passengers waited to be rescued, are now also at the museum. Executive director Wally Coppinger said the museum is “displaying and preserving the airplane, not trying to re-build it” so, for now, has placed the left wing on the hangar floor next to the plane. “The wing will be connected to the fuselage later.” The right wing, currently on a ramp outside the hangar doors in an area with limited viewing, will also be put in place next to the fuselage, Coppinger said, but not in time for this weekend’s anniversary.
On Saturday, McHugh will join a panel of passengers from US Airways Flight 1549 at the museum between 1 and 4 p.m. to share their memories of the experience and to answer questions from museum visitors. “People don’t always get to talk to survivors of a plane crash,” said McHugh. “They have a need to ask questions. They wonder how they’d behave in a similar situation.”
Courtesy Carolinas Aviation Museum
The partially reassembled Miracle on the Hudson plane is on display at the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte, N.C.
The museum is expecting a large crowd, Coppinger said: “There were 155 people on that flight, and there are 155 different stories.”
On Sunday, the museum will be closed for a private event as part of a reunion for passengers. “It will be the first time a lot of them will be seeing the aircraft,” Coppinger said. “We’re going to allow them to go into the plane and sit in ‘their’ seats if they want to.”
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Leave a Comment:
Can't wait for the 10th anniversary.
Or the 100th. I wonder when it's going to become a national holiday?
Still pretty amazing!!
Amazing because it was an older pilot who know how to "FLY". New planes / younger pilots only fly the plane a small portion of the time...its mostly programming flight computers now.
I take nothing from Capt. Sullenberger, he deserves full credit for making a good outcome out of almost certain doom. I object to the characterization that young pilots don't know how to fly. There is nothing in this article to justify such a statement.
Remember this the next time pilots strike for more pay. How much would you pay to have Capt. Sully make the decisions in a situation like this.
Hey Steve, there were two people in the cockpit, and maybe it's time we acknowledge that. There was a co-pilot, who actually had more flight miles than Sullenburger. And after the event, Sully wrote a book, gave speeches for $60,000 per speech, and retired.
As for the other pilot, Jeff Skiles, he worked with Congress to help change the rules regarding what kind of training and air-time pilots must have. It was his goal after that short flight in New York that crashed, killing all aboard, occurred, and we learned that neither pilot was qualified to pilot that plane. When Skiles was asked to speak before the Boy Scouts of America, they paid for his flight and hotel, and he ask no fee for giving the speech.
Sully is a hero - there's no doubt about that. But Jeff Skiles is equally heroic and it's time we give him equal credit. And how do I know this? Because I know Jeff Skiles personally, and he was a hero before this happened, and has acted like a hero since this happened. He hasn't profited from what could have been a real tragedy!
Interesting post and take on these events, Dachs. Thanks.
Yes Dachs, that is a good post,.... and its been awhile but, i remember reading a comment made by Jeff Skiles Shortly after the event, and He did express his Admiration for Sully, regarding how incredibly calm and cool he was in every action, during the descent... he said it made him much calmer, seeing how calm Sully was. i thought that it was pretty cool of Jeff to say so.
The Captain of this plane should have been named Man of the Year...Man of the decade...Man of the Century. A True American hero.
AMEN!
I don't think I would use the word "hero" to describe the pilot. He did not risk his life since he was in as much danger as the passengers. The guy's one hell of a pilot though.
Perhaps I'm misinterpreting your post. But it seems to me that by your criteria, for example no person in the military could ever be considered a "hero" because by definition they are in as much danger as the comrades they are ostensibly trying to save. The presence of danger seems to me to be a necessary part of being a hero. Do you consider anybody to be a hero and can you name one?
for myself... i think if i Had Been on that plane... i'd be shouting HERO ! from the Rooftops ! another thing i can remember right after the crash landing, and for the next couple of days, Capt. Sully was insisting that He was not a Hero, he said he was just Doing His Job. he seemed very uncomfortable with all the attention at first.... i'm glad he got over it. America Needs Hero's (((especially since mainstream media does not think our American soldiers Stories.... are worth a review... too bad, lots of Hero's.... and lots of great friendships made.)))
I agree that it is increasingly becoming an over-utilized term in the same vein as "everyone's a winner". The term 'hero' by definition must be exceptional. If it ceases to be so, then it devalues the people who actually do fall into that category.
Whilst I'm in awe of what Capt. Sullenberger did on this occasion, I don't believe it falls into the 'heroic' category. A true hero is someone who willingly places themselves at risk to save others, not someone who just happens to find themselves in that position without a choice in the matter.
Sunday also markes the 3rd anniversary of Israel Bombing that Palestinian School House in Gaza and killing dozens of children. And odd coinincidence that keep that story almost tolally OUT of the news. BTW... How many other flights in the past 10 years have we heard about hitting geese? Uh, none.
Uh stfu.
Only when we watch movies do we feel the emotions and imagine the questions people ask themselves in those situations. The story is amazing. Allowing them to revisit the plane is a great idea in that it allows them to reflect. I would imagine the passengers finding it a spiritual moment. God Bless all of the passengers and also the cockpit crew!!!
It took two to land this plane and sully is no more or less a hero than jeff skiles!
I agree with you Crooz, there might have been a miracle on the Hudson, but there was a tragedy in Gaza and the victims were innocent children.
Captain Scully showed what a person who know how to FLY, as opposed to just how to operate this particular aircraft, contributes to an industry. Narrowly trained personnel don't know how to react when something 'out of the ordinary' or even out of the range of situations presented in simulation, occur. His glider experience led him to a proper landing of his craft on water. Of course there is the fortuitous lack of significant waves on the Hudson at the time. So many things had to come together, the captain's background and the current conditions which made this a happy outcome instead of a tragedy.
They would never, ever, get me near that plane again...
I would have done the same thing If I were captain, anything elses was definitely death to all. You always fly wondering if something happened where would I land. He hit it right on the nose.......Great piece of flying under pressure.
The Airbus 320 requires two pilots for a reason. Sully was the pilot in command and Skiles was second in command. While Sully was flying the plane, Skiles was painstakingly going through checklist after checklist attempting to restart one or both of the engines. They are both professionals and earned hero status in my book. God bless them!
Thank you for agreeing that it took two people to create this miracle. FYI - Jeff Skiles was the pilot who "took off" that day, not Sully. Co-pilots aren't co-pilots because they have less experience. They are just as qualified as the pilot to be in the pilot's seat.
Let us also remember that the pilot was invited to speak before Congress, and received a standing ovation when he arrived. However, when he started talking about the problems of the airline industries and pilots the ENTIRE membership of Congress walked out on him while he was speaking. Way to honor him....
Piloting is a unique job in that no one falls into it. You don't go to school, earn a Batchelors degree in Business Administration and find yourself falling into a job as a pilot. Like other professional jobs, it takes years of serious dedication to become an airline pilot and tens of thousands of dollars (if not hundreds) out of the prospective candidates pocket to get there. Like professional athletes, Transport Pilots must remain physically capable of doing their job and are required to go through a medical exam every six months. Don't pass and your career may be over.
Airlines take advantage of the passion pilots have to fly and pay newer pilots like a cook at McDonalds. Sometimes less than $20K a year. Senior pilots buy into this system because they are VERY well paid to look the other way. But the day of reckoning is coming. Senior pilots are retiring or losing their medicals. Military pilots don't have the incentive or ability to quit and go to work in private industry like they used to. New pilots aren't in the pipeline because it's simply too expensive and time consuming to get there. More and more you will see pilots from foreign countries and people will questionable qualifications who are overworked and undercompensated carrying your life in their hands.
The solution isn't to make it harder to be an airline pilot. The solution is for airlines and commerical carriers to take an active interest in the training pipeline instead of only worrying about their quarterly profit and loss statement and how much the CEO's stock options are worth next week.
We need more pilots like Sully & Skiles, not fewer.
I am so dang sick of hearing about this over and over. The guy did what he was paid to do. Give it a rest for Pete's sake.
This is truly a memorable event, and both pilots deserve recognition and fame forever. This story gives hope to those in truly desperate situations that even the worst can be overcome.