News

New York

ny-miracle

Just as he took control of crippled <a href="/topics/US_Airways">US Airways</a> Flight 1549, Capt. <a href="/topics/Chesley_Sullenberger">Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger</a> showed Tuesday night he also had a firm grip on the story of the Miracle on the Hudson. 
Sullenberger was in New York City for a screening of "Brace for Impact," a documentary about the emergency water landing in the frigid <a href="/topics/Hudson_River">Hudson River</a> a year ago. 
The <a href="/topics/US_Airways">US Airways</a> <a href="/topics/Airbus">Airbus</a> A320 hit <a href="/topics/Canada">Canada</a> geese after takeoff from <a href="/topics/LaGuardia_Airport">LaGuardia Airport</a> on Jan. 15, 2009. 
<a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/jet-crashes-in-hudson-river-1.322"> &gt;&gt; PHOTOS: See images from the 'Miracle on the Hudson' and the ceremonies that followed</a> 
The impact shut down both engines, leaving Sullenberger to guide the disabled plane to a safe landing in the Hudson. 
Since the emergency landing, Sullenberger, 59, participated in the making of the documentary, which airs Sunday on TLC. 
"I think it was an important story that needed to be told, and I wanted to make sure it was done right," Sullenberger said. 
Sullenberger also made sure he wasn't the only star involved with the project: Actor <a href="/topics/Harrison_Ford">Harrison Ford</a> lends his voice to the film. 
"I asked <a href="/topics/Harrison_Ford">Harrison Ford</a> to narrate it and he agreed," Sullenberger said. "It's in HD [high definition]. It's going to be a beautiful show." 
The film screened at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center. 
It features Sullenberger retracing the path of Flight 1549 in a helicopter. 
The captain narrated the critical moments of the Miracle on the Hudson flight - from the bird strike that robbed the engines of thrust, to the splashdown, to the rescue of 155 passengers and crew by commercial boats. 
The film also features interviews with the flight crew, passengers and first responders. 
Flight 1549 passenger Barry Leonard, 56, of <a href="/topics/North_Carolina">North Carolina</a>, broke his sternum in the crash. 
He said in the months since, the passengers have become "like a second family." 
His interview for the documentary ended up on the cutting room floor. 
<a href="/topics/Vince_Lombardi">Vince Lombardi</a> of Montclair, N.J., was the operator of the New York Waterway boat that rescued the passengers and crew. 
At a cocktail party after the screening, near where Sullenberger signed copies of his book, Lombardi enthused about the film. 
"It was nice. It was 100 percent true," he said. "I can't wait for the world to see it." 
Near the end of the documentary, Sullenberger reflected on the reasons why the Miracle on the Hudson captured the hearts of the nation. 
"It reminded us of the potential in each of us," he said. 
<a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/jet-crashes-in-hudson-river-1.322"> &gt;&gt; PHOTOS: See images from the 'Miracle on the Hudson' and the ceremonies that followed</a> 
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NYSULL06

Documentary celebrates Sully, Miracle on the Hudson

Fame, book deals, documentaries and presidential handshakes have been in the offing in the year since <a href="/topics/US_Airways">US Airways</a> Flight 1549 splashed down in the Hudson River, all 150 passengers and five crew members surviving. 
But 12 months after the emergency water landing, many safety issues identified by crash investigators and during congressional hearings remain unsettled. And some of the technology that could have prevented the need for the crash-landing is years away from fruition. 
The <a href="/topics/National_Transportation_Safety_Board">National Transportation Safety Board</a> is still investigating the crash, and its final report could be six months from completion, spokesman Peter Knudson said. "They're in the final stages," Knudson said of the board. 
<a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/chesley-sullenberger-attends-premiere-of-brace-for-impact-1.1686145">&gt;&gt;VIDEO: Click here to see Sully at his latest public event</a> 
The <a href="/topics/Federal_Aviation_Administration">Federal Aviation Administration</a> is evaluating one change the NTSB has recommended - a rule to allow air traffic controllers to notify other planes of an emergency. Currently, pilots themselves have to dial in an emergency code to alert controllers, but the NTSB noted that Flight 1549's dire circumstances showed pilots may not have time to do that. 
Here are four safety issues that remain unsettled: 
&nbsp; 
FAA rules on ditching 
Rules on emergency water landings and crew training for such situations could be broader and more stringent, according to the NTSB, which is examining airline training policies as part of its investigation. 
Current regulations, which have evolved over the past 50 years, call for pilots to be familiar with protocols for "ditching," and the procedures must be included in aircraft manual checklists. Flight attendants are required to be familiar with flotation devices and survival equipment. 
But pilots are not now required to demonstrate ditching skills in a flight simulator. Ditching training is usually covered during classroom work in "ground school." 
As for flight attendants, they are required to train for ditching when working with airlines that have extended over-water flights. Flight 1549 was an overland flight. 
&nbsp; 
Bird strike database 
Reporting of bird strikes to the FAA's National Wildlife Strike Database remains voluntary, and some critics, including Sen. <a href="/topics/Charles_Schumer">Charles Schumer</a> (D-N.Y.), say reporting should be mandatory. 
The database, compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provides a place for pilots, aircraft maintenance workers and airport grounds-keepers to report incidents of wildlife conflicts with aviation. Most common are birds, but wildlife such as deer can find their way onto airport runways. 
Estimates suggest that the database captures about 20 percent of bird strikes, although publicity since Flight 1549 has sparked an uptick in reporting, said Mike Beiger, national coordinator for the airport wildlife hazards program at the <a href="/topics/Agriculture_Department">Agriculture Department</a>. 
"The biggest reason we feel for the numbers going up is more awareness," said Beiger, who estimated that bird-strike reports could be 30 percent to 40 percent higher in 2009 than they were in 2008. 
Schumer, who in May proposed legislation to make reporting of bird strikes mandatory, said Wednesday, "For too many years, information regarding bird strikes has been swept under the rug. My legislation would put a stop to it." 
&nbsp; 
Bird ingestion standards 
NTSB officials identified tougher bird-ingestion standards for jet engines as a possible reform. 
Flight 1549 was an <a href="/topics/Airbus">Airbus</a> A320, and standards for those engines say they each should be able to withstand contact with a single 4-pound bird, or a flock of seven 1.5-pound birds. 
After a strike, the engines have to continue to produce thrust, according to the manufacturer's standard. However, as Flight 1549 showed, large birds like <a href="/topics/Canada">Canada</a> geese can rob engines of sufficient thrust to stay aloft. <a href="/topics/Canada">Canada</a> geese can average 5.8 to 10.7 pounds, and so-called "resident birds" that do not migrate can grow even larger. 
Flight 1549's power plants, two CFM56-5B/P turbofan engines, stopped producing enough thrust to keep the plane in the air. 
The research that produced the FAA's current bird-ingestion standards is at least 10 years old, officials with the Air Line Pilots Association testified at congressional hearings after Flight 1549's crash. 
&nbsp; 
Avian radar 
Ground-based radar systems designed to detect flocking birds near airports are not the immediate solution to keeping planes and flocking birds out of each other's way, experts say. 
But avian radar is not yet reliable enough for controllers to use to direct air traffic, said Michael O'Donnell, the FAA's director of airport safety and standards. 
Ground-based radar sees everything - trees, birds and even bugs. The trouble lies in radar sorting out what human beings in a plane or control tower need to know, said Edwin E. Herricks of the Center of Excellence for Airport Technology at the <a href="/topics/University_of_Illinois">University of Illinois</a> at Urbana-Champaign, which is evaluating private avian radar systems for the FAA. 
"If there's any message after 1549, it's that lots of companies have identified that there may be a real market," Herricks said. "But it's not simple." 
O'Donnell said avian radar technology "is very good, and we can see a lot. But it has to be information that we can pass on to somebody who can do something about it." 
The Center of Excellence for Airport Technology has studied avian radar for the FAA at airports across the country, including <a href="/topics/John_F._Kennedy_International_Airport">Kennedy Airport</a>. But "after several years, we still don't know the full capabilities, or limitations, of avian radar," a center report found. "Radar is not the magic solution."

Nation/World

NYAIR14

Little progress on safety since Hudson River air crash

Hudson River crash

After experiencing the "Miracle on the Hudson," Jeff Kolodjay said he was lucky enough to experience a second miracle five months later: the birth of his son, Gabe. 
"He's the light of my life," said Kolodjay, 32, of Norwalk, Conn. 
After his wife gave birth to Gabe on June 23, Kolodjay said he has frequently reflected on how life might have been for his son growing up without a father, and for his wife raising their son alone. 
It's not an easy thought to live with, but it's one that gives him an appreciation for all he's got. 
"I just try and surround myself with positive people," said Kolodjay, who was on <a href="/topics/US_Airways">US Airways</a> Flight 1549 with his father and four other men on a golf outing in <a href="/topics/Myrtle_Beach">Myrtle Beach</a>, S.C., a year ago Friday. 
"I really don't have time for negative people anymore," he said. "I try to be a positive person myself. I truly feel we were given a second chance." 
While workaday life has not changed dramatically, his attitude has. 
He still works for the same health/pharmaceutical company that he did before the crash, though he has been promoted, an accomplishment he attributes to his hard work and a new outlook. 
"My approach to daily tasks has changed," he said. "I'm not sweating the small stuff, but I am enjoying the small things in life."

LIKOLO15

Survivor's new outlook on life

liPLANE

(AP) — Months after the crash, Doreen Welsh had a panic attack when she inhaled a little water in the shower. Anastasia Sosa no longer finds swimming fun — it feels too much like survival training. And Jorge Morgado can't bring himself to get back on a plane.
A year after the 155 people aboard the crippled <a href="/topics/US_Airways">US Airways</a> Flight 1549 survived a splash-landing on the frigid Hudson River, some are suffering the psychological aftereffects of their terrifying descent and harrowing evacuation.
While many have spoken of a newfound appreciation for life and a focus on family, some also are struggling to regain their balance emotionally.
"It was a real breaking point for me," said Sosa, who believed her husband and two young children would die with her.
In what became known as the Miracle on the Hudson, Capt. <a href="/topics/Chesley_Sullenberger">Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger</a> deftly put his <a href="/topics/Airbus">Airbus</a> A320 down in the river on Jan. 15, 2009, after a collision with a flock of birds disabled the aircraft's engines.
On Friday, the anniversary, Sullenberger and some of the survivors will take a boat out to the place where they were pulled soaked and freezing from the water, and at the moment of impact they will raise their glasses in a toast.
Returning to the river won't be easy for Welsh. One of three flight attendants on Flight 1549, she remembers being seconds away from drowning as water gushed into the rear of the aircraft, reaching all the way to her chin.
Even now, she is afraid of water. One day, six or seven months after the crash, she inhaled some water in the shower and had a full-scale panic attack, experiencing the evacuation again. She has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Her therapist has her doing shower exercises in which she takes increasing amounts of water into her mouth. When she takes a bubble bath, she practices putting her head under.
She has returned, uneasily, to flying but not to work. She still hasn't decided whether to go back to her job. She has yet to wear her uniform, which was shredded and bloodied.
One decision she has made: She won't be seeking cosmetic surgery to hide the prominent scar left on her leg from the gash she suffered that day.
"When I look at it, it gives me that jolt to be grateful, and maybe I need that," said the Ambridge, Pa., woman. "It just brings me back to I'm just grateful I'm here and I'm happy I lived through all that."
Once an avid swimmer, the 41-year-old Sosa has stopped her near-daily trips to the pool. The East Hampton woman said swimming reminds her of carrying her baby son to safety, of looking back and seeing her husband chest-deep in the flooded cabin, hoisting their 4-year-old daughter above the rising water, of thinking they wouldn't make it out.
Morgado has yet to get on a plane again.
"I know once I get on, they close that door and you're strapped in your seat, you're in, you're not going anywhere. The flashbacks will still come," said the 33-year-old flooring company owner, who was on a golf trip when the plane went down. "What happened will always be there."
Still, he insisted, it's only a matter of time: "At one point I'm just going to suck it up and do it."
The father of three has set a deadline for himself. He and his wife are planning a family trip from their Chicopee, Mass., home to Walt Disney World 18 months from now.
Many survivors, including <a href="/topics/Mark">Mark</a> Hood, speak mostly about the positive outlook they gained from their brush with death. In the past year, the <a href="/topics/Charlotte">Charlotte</a>, N.C., salesman has spoken to more than 50 church and civic groups about the experience.
"There is really, really nothing in life to fear," he said. "I feel like every day is a bonus no matter how difficult the problems that are thrown at you or at me."
But even Hood, who said he had always been stoic and guarded before the crash, is sometimes surprised by the lingering effects. During his children's high school graduation party, the former Marine suddenly felt dizzy and had to put his hand against the wall to steady himself.
"All I could think about was this entire party would be happening without me if things had turned out differently on the 15th," he said.
The survivors of Flight 1549 have returned home to their families, and many have gone back to their jobs. Some participate in an e-mail group, sharing their progress and their thoughts. Two survivors, Laura Zych and Ben Bostic, have fallen in love.
The group surprised some observers with what they have chosen not to do: No one on board the plane has sued the airline.
"Amazing," said Justin Green, an attorney with Kreindler &amp; Kreindler, a law firm that specializes in air disasters.
Sheila Dail, another of the flight attendants, at first was embarrassed after experiencing a panic attack. Then the Asheville, N.C., woman decided to turn her anxiety into something positive: She got certified in crisis management and is training to help other flight attendants cope with trauma.
Sosa, for her part, stays home more, nervous about driving. When she does get on the road, she is hypervigilant, ready in case something goes wrong. She did take a flight with her daughter, but the girl turned bright red from anxiety on the descent.
Despite their fears, her family will return to the river to mark the anniversary because of the other survivors, who have been a source of support, she said.
Welsh said she will be there, too, hoping to conquer her fears.
"I'm sure I will not be standing anywhere on the edge," she said with a laugh. "I will be the person standing as far to the middle as you can get."
___
Associated Press writer Mitch Weiss in Charlotte, N.C., contributed to this report.

Business

US-Plane-Splashdown-Anniversary

Year after Hudson River jet landing, fear remains

Even before a collision with a flock of birds sent <a href="/topics/US_Airways">US Airways</a> Flight 1549 into a safe landing on the <a href="/topics/Hudson_River">Hudson River</a>, <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> MacArthur Airport had set its sights on discouraging unwelcome avian visitors.
The airport had already planned to add two air cannons - used to startle birds - to its arsenal of four. But after Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenburger safely brought his plane down, MacArthur boosted the number of employees trained in bird mitigation techniques from four to 16, airport Commissioner Teresa Rizzuto said.
"Did the Hudson incident have us react even more so?" she said in an interview Wednesday. "Yes, absolutely. Everyone's more proactive now. Safety is our priority and we do this all night long."
According to the FAA's National Wildlife Strike Database, the airport's efforts have paid off: six bird strikes occurred in MacArthur's airspace during the first seven months of 2009, compared with 16 in the same period in 2008.
MacArthur's total number of bird strikes in 2008 came to 27, according to the FAA.
But a tally kept by MacArthur doesn't give a clear indication whether the efforts have been successful. The airport keeps an incomplete count, based on bird strikes that pilots call in to the <a href="/topics/Ronkonkoma%2C_NY">Ronkonkoma</a> airport's control tower, Rizzuto said, and it shows an increase in 2009 - eight bird strikes, up from just five in 2008.
MacArthur sees a fraction of the bird strikes that Kennedy, LaGuardia and <a href="/topics/Newark">Newark</a> Liberty airports do, according to federal statistics. While MacArthur saw 27 in 2008, Kennedy had 144, LaGuardia 90 and Newark 100.
Kennedy and LaGuardia see flocks of geese attracted by nearby marshlands, but bird strikes reported at MacArthur typically involve much smaller birds. In 2008, they included European starlings, a sparrow, a seagull and a falcon, Rizzuto said.
"We take samples off the plane," she said.
MacArthur staff monitor the property 24 hours a day, scanning for clusters of birds on the ground, and use starter pistols loaded with blanks and propane air cannons to startle the birds. The pistols whistle and pop, and the air cannons, stationed across the property, emit 100-decibel blasts in 5- to 10-minute intervals. 
The airport bolstered its bird strike mitigation program voluntarily, Rizzuto said.

Long Island

Suffolk

LIMACA14

MacArthur Airport bolsters bird strike mitigation programs

THE SHOW NBC's "People of the Year"
WHEN | WHERE Thursday night night at 9 on NBC/4
THE DEAL <a href="/topics/Matt_Lauer">Matt Lauer</a> interviews several of 2009's top newsmakers, including Capt. <a href="/topics/Chesley_Sullenberger">Chesley Sullenberger</a>, "Octomom" <a href="/topics/Nadya_Suleman">Nadya Suleman</a>, <a href="/topics/Taylor_Swift">Taylor Swift</a>, <a href="/topics/Susan_Boyle">Susan Boyle</a> and <a href="/topics/Kobe_Bryant">Kobe Bryant</a>.
SULLY SAYS The pilot - who safely ditched a <a href="/topics/US_Airways">US Airways</a> plane in the <a href="/topics/Hudson_River">Hudson River</a> after geese hit the engines - jokes that his heroic handling of the disabled jetliner brought him "rock star sex." Lauer asked Sullenberger and his wife, Lorrie, whether his sudden celebrity helped or hurt their relationship. "He doesn't know I'm gonna say this, but I had joked the other day that . . . the hero sex really helps a 20-year-old marriage," Lorrie Sullenberger said with a laugh, according to an NBC transcript. "Rock star sex," Chesley Sullenberger chimed in. 
'OCTOMOM' TALKS.In Lauer's interview with Suleman, the <a href="/topics/California">California</a> mother of octuplets denies receiving any public funding and also says that, contrary to reports, she isn't going to do a reality show with <a href="/topics/Jon_Gosselin">Jon Gosselin</a> of "Jon &amp; Kate Plus 8." "I love that this happened, because this is a perfect example of what kind of erroneous beliefs are out there," Suleman said, saying the answer to whether it would happen "was a billion percent no." - AP

Entertainment

ETBOT25

Sullenberger, 'Octomom' on NBC's 'People of the Year'

The <a href="/topics/National_Transportation_Safety_Board">National Transportation Safety Board</a> is recommending a post-"Miracle on the Hudson" reform that would make it possible for air traffic controllers to alert each other when a plane is having an emergency.
The NTSB announced the recommendation in a letter written from Chairman Deborah A. Hersman to <a href="/topics/Federal_Aviation_Administration">Federal Aviation Administration</a> Administrator J. Randolph Babbitt.
The NTSB's investigation of <a href="/topics/US_Airways">US Airways</a> Flight 1549's emergency landing in the Hudson River continues, but the NTSB believes a change is needed in the radar data processing systems so controllers can designate a flight as "in an emergency situation," Hersman said.
On Jan. 15, Flight 1549, which took off from <a href="/topics/LaGuardia_Airport">LaGuardia Airport</a> bound for <a href="/topics/Charlotte">Charlotte</a>, N.C., experienced a double bird strike that robbed the <a href="/topics/Airbus">Airbus</a> A-320's engines of sufficient thrust to keep flying. Capt. <a href="/topics/Chesley_Sullenberger">Chesley Sullenberger</a> and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles were too busy trying to land the crippled jet to turn on the emergency transponder, according to facts set out in the preliminary NTSB investigation.
The change would allow controllers to communicate an aircraft's emergency situation. The transponder signal sends unique information from the plane to controllers in towers at other airports and radar facilities.
By allowing controllers to designate a plane as being in an emergency, everyone who needs to know could alert other aircraft they could avoid the troubled aircraft. The emergency transponder code would also pop up on area controllers' radar screens, according to the NTSB.
Doug Church, a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said the NTSB's recommendations would improve safety.
"It is technologically possible to implement the NTSB's recommendations," Church said. "The benefit for controllers is that everyone in the facility would know at the same time that there is an emergency aircraft in the airspace. It would stand out on everyone's radar scopes."
<a href="/topics/Jim_Peters">Jim Peters</a>, a spokesman for the FAA, said the agency would "carefully review the recommendation and respond."
All 155 aboard survived Flight 1549's water landing.

LINTSB15

After Hudson air crash, NTSB aims for reforms on alerts

Want to be like Sully? The crash-landing of US Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River has inspired a free online video game: "Hero on the Hudson." 
The game gives players a scenario - "Both engines are out. The plane is too low and too slow to make it to the airport. You decide to make emergency landing in the river" - and allows a player to control the aircraft using a computer keyboard's left and right arrows. 
With a successful landing in the water, you are a hero just like pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, whose skill meant the survival of all 155 people on Flight 1549. If you don't land the plane successfully, it unceremoniously sinks in the digital river. 
"I think it's natural for someone to want to capitalize on a sensational event like that," said Todd Wissing of Raleigh, N.C., an 18-year veteran pilot with American Airlines. Though Wissing had not heard of the game, he said, "It sounds like it might not be in the best taste, but the fact that the event itself had a happy ending makes it a bit more palatable." 
The game elicited mixed feelings yesterday from some of the flight's survivors. 
"People are crazy," laughed Diane Higgins, 58, from her home upstate in Goshen. "They have nothing better to do with their time, I guess." 
Others, however, were given pause. 
"All of this is still so fresh and new," said Alexandra Spera, 39, of Charlotte, N.C., whose husband, Vince, was a passenger on the flight. "To inject humor into it? I don't know if I'm ready yet." 
The video game by Orbs Games Limited - which lists its chief executive as Andriy Sharanevych of Kiev, Ukraine - was the featured game Friday on Tastyplay.com. Players gave it 3 1/2 stars on a five-star scale. 
According to his biography on an online social networking site, Sharanevych has a bachelor's degree from National Technical University of Ukraine in Kiev and operates several video-game Web sites. He responded Friday to an initial e-mail, but did not answer subsequent questions. 
To veteran pilots such as Bob Ober of East Setauket - a pilot with Delta Air Lines and a simulation instructor for more than 15 years who had not played the game - it's "not the least bit representative of being a pilot." 
And, he said, one doesn't have to be a pilot to see the game is tasteless. "It would be like if they made a video game of an execution," he said.

ny-liplan316018476jan31

Video game simulates pilot Sullenberger's Hudson landing

The start of a whirlwind <a href="/topics/New_York">New York</a> City tour for hero pilot Capt. <a href="/topics/Chesley_Sullenberger">Chesley Sullenberger</a> and the crew of <a href="/topics/US_Airways">US Airways</a> Flight 1549 began with the arrival on the set of "The Early Show" before sunrise. 
It was the start to a day in which Sullenberger and the crew were honored at City Hall for saving the lives of the 150 passengers aboard the <a href="/topics/Airbus">Airbus</a> A320 that was forced to ditch in the Hudson River this past month. Mayor <a href="/topics/Michael_Bloomberg">Michael Bloomberg</a> presented the keys to the city. 
 -Click for 127 photos of Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger in NYC, and the Hudson River plane ditching 
After arriving at <a href="/topics/CBS">CBS</a> studios at 59th and Fifth to tape the segment for "The Early Show," Sullenberger was seated on stage with his crew. Twenty-three passengers from the miracle flight also were on hand, seated in bleachers to the side of the stage. 
Australian singer Emma Sophina, who was a passenger on the flight, sang a song she had written in honor of the captain. Though normally stoic and somewhat reserved, Sullenberger beamed as Sophina sang "Send Another Prayer." 
"I'm thankful for the things you've done," Sophina said. "Send another prayer to heaven because tomorrow has just begun." 
Survivor Diane Higgins, 58, and her mother, Lucille Palmer, 85, who are from upstate Goshen, said they woke at 3 a.m. and had a car take them to New York for "The Early Show." 
"It was very exciting meeting Sully," Palmer said afterwards, adding: "I have a legacy to leave my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. 
"I survived the 'Miracle in the Hudson,' " she said. 
Asked what she told Sullenberger when she met him, Palmer said: "You made history today . . . Thank you." 
Higgins called the day "a whirlwind" and said: "It is the icing on the cake to meet the crew and just to meet the other passengers and to listen to their stories." She said she told Sullenberger: "You're my hero. And God was your co-pilot." 
She said Sullenberger laughed at that one and said: "No, Jeff was my co-pilot." 
The reference was to co-pilot Jeff Skiles, who was with Sullenberger in the cockpit when Flight 1549 ditched in the frigid Hudson on Jan. 15. 
Higgins said she and her mother were on the flight to <a href="/topics/Charlotte">Charlotte</a> en route to <a href="/topics/South_Carolina">South Carolina</a>, where they planned to attend a first birthday party for Higgins' grandson. They were seated in seats 17E and F. 
They were both uninjured in the miraculous crash landing. 
"We're just happy to be alive," Higgins said. 
Following the taping for the show, Sullenberger and the crew left the studios at 6:30 a.m., got into waiting black sport utility vehicles and headed to the set of "Good Morning America" at 44th and <a href="/topics/Broadway">Broadway</a>. The crew was scheduled to be on-site there for about two hours. The media was not allowed into the studio. 
The show sent out a news release that said 27 passengers from Flight 1549 were in attendance -- and that many of them shook hands with Sullenberger, some giving him an on-the-air hug. 
"Good to see you, thanks for coming," Sullenberger was quoted as saying as he greeted each, asking one of the passengers: "Holding up OK?" 
"I thought I was going to lose my wife and never get to see my children," an emotional Larry Snodgrass was quoted as telling Sullenberger. 
"I thank you from the bottom of my heart," he said. 
Passenger David Sontag was quoted as saying he had written a letter to each member of the crew -- and he read part of it on the air: "I wish for you the old Irish saying, 'May the wind always be at your back and may God hold you safely in his hands.' " 
Passengers Vallee Collins said that, as the doomed jetliner descended toward the Hudson without power, she texted her husband a note. It read: "My flight is crashing." 
Collins said she expected the flight to end "tragically" -- and didn't want her husband to be wondering whether she was on that plane or not. 
"I wanted him to get to the business of telling our children," Collins said, adding that she was delighted to be talking to the crew on "Good Morning America" instead. 
Following the "Good Morning America" appearance, Sullenberger and the crew were off to City Hall for ceremonies with Mayor Bloomberg. 
 Staff writer John Valenti contributed to this story. 
 -Click for 127 photos of Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger in NYC, and the Hudson River plane ditching

ny-nypass0210

Passengers reunite with hero pilot

He has gotten a phone call from the president, a key to New York City and a standing ovation at a Broadway show. Nowthe pilot who safely landed his crippled jetliner in the HudsonRiver has gotten another all-American tribute -- some ribbing from 
 David Letterman. 
Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and his fellow crew membersfrom US Airways Flight 1549 appeared Tuesday on the "Late Showwith David Letterman" and retold the dramatic story of the Jan. 15 flight -- this time, with plenty of laughs. 
An example, according to the show's transcript: Letterman mentioned a passenger who opened a door in the rear of the plane, letting in water from the near-freezing river until it was closed again. Sullenberger jokingly replied, "I think it was Steve Martinwho did that," referring to the comedian. 
- Click to see photos of Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger on David Letterman, and around NYC 
And when the host asked whether the Airbus A320 was designed tofloat, Sullenberger deadpanned, "We were very glad that this oneremained intact and did." 
The captain even addressed his now-ubiquitous nickname: "With aname like Chesley, Sully is just going to have to happen." 
Sullenberger's crew mates generated several chuckles of theirown, as when Letterman marveled at the plane's passage 1,000 feetover the George Washington Bridge minutes after birds apparentlyflew into and disabled both the aircraft's engines. 
"It's better than zero feet," first officer and co-pilot JeffSkiles said. 
On a serious note, Sullenberger said the crew members haveexperienced some trouble sleeping, distractedness and flashbacks. 
"You know, each of us, all five of us, have experienced some ofthose typical symptoms. It's just human nature," saidSullenberger, who was joined as well by flight attendants SheilaDail, Donna Dent and Doreen Welsh. 
Asked whether she was in shock after the emergency landing and safe rescue of all 155 people aboard, Welsh said, "Still in shock, I think -- I mean, I'm on the David Letterman show." 
- Click to see photos of Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger on David Letterman, and around NYC

ny-nysully0211

Sully gets laughs on David Letterman

The crew of the crippled <a href="/topics/US_Airways">US Airways</a> jetliner that ended up in the frigid Hudson River was honored Monday at City Hall, where they were presented with keys to the city by Mayor <a href="/topics/Michael_Bloomberg">Michael Bloomberg</a> -- who called them "five real American heroes." 
The pilot, Capt. <a href="/topics/Chesley_Sullenberger">Chesley Sullenberger</a>, co-pilot Jeff Skiles and flight attendants Doreen Walsh, Sheila Dail and Donna Dent were welcomed by Bloomberg. 
"I certainly hope that you feel at home here," the mayor said. "And you should. <a href="/topics/New_York">New York</a> City . . . is a city full of heroes." 
The mayor added: "I can't think of a safer group of people to give keys to the city to." 
In an incident Gov. <a href="/topics/David_A_Paterson">David A. Paterson</a> dubbed "The Miracle on the Hudson," Sullenberger and the crew managed to safely ditch the big Airbus A320 in the Hudson after a bird strike disabled both of the plane's engine shortly after takeoff Jan. 15 from <a href="/topics/LaGuardia_Airport">LaGuardia Airport</a>. 
All 155 people on board, including passengers and crew, safely exited the downed aircraft. Rescues were made by Circle Line ships, tugboats, ferries, the U.S. Coast Guard, police and fire personnel as the plane floated in the Hudson. 
"It's been called a miracle, but in this case there is no miracle without the experience of these five crew members sitting here," Bloomberg said. 
"They're not just here to serve you drinks and peanuts," the mayor said. "Thank you for saving so many lives and renewing our faith in human strength and spirit." 
Bloomberg said that tonight the pilot and crew will be treated to a night "on the town" --- tickets to "Chicago" and dinner at Blue Fin restaurant. 
Asked what he thought of New York, Sullenberger said: "It's even more beautiful than I imagined." 
He also attempted to diffuse the spotlight, saying: "This was a crew effort." 
Earlier on Monday Sullenberger said moments after the bird strike he "knew immediately it was a very serious situation," but remained confident he could get the plane down safely and in one piece. 
The interview took place on "The Early Show" on <a href="/topics/CBS">CBS</a>. 
Sullenberger also appeared on "Good Morning America." 
The captain, known as Sully, and crew of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 are in the middle of a whirlwind tour of the city. 
On "The Early Show," Sullenberger recalled the plane striking the birds shortly after takeoff -- disabling both engines. 
"I felt the birds hitting the airplane," Sullenberger said Monday on "The Early Show."We were being pelted," he said. "I knew immediately it was a very serious situation." 
Sullenberger, who quickly considered -- then ruled out -- an emergency return to LaGuardia and an emergency landing at Teterboro Airport in <a href="/topics/New_Jersey">New Jersey</a> said he "the only viable option" -- ditching in the Hudson. 
"I was confident I could do it," Sullenberger said on "The Early Show," adding: "Based on my experience, I just knew that it was possible." 
Sullenberger said he and Skiles were "intensely focused" on the task at hand. 
"We were just concentrating on doing our jobs," Sullenberger said. 
"We were using gravity as we descended . . . to keep the airplane flying," he said. "We glided to a landing." 
Along the way to that miraculous ditching, however, Sullenberger said: "I had to suppress my natural adrenaline rush . . . and not allow it to distract me." He said: "It's hard to believe it actually happened." 
Sullenberger was interviewed Sunday night on "60 Minutes." 
He also received a standing ovation Saturday night at a showing of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific" at the Lincoln Center Theater. 
But, the veteran pilot said Monday, that there has been too much about him and "not enough about the team." 
He called the entire experience "surreal." 
 -Click for 127 photos of Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger in NYC, and the Hudson River plane ditching 
 The Associated Press contributed to this story

ny-nysully0210

Sullenberger gets key to NYC

If the dazzling rescue of all 155 aboard US Airways Flight 1549 had any political meaning, it was this: Ordinary citizens acting with skill, courage, training, experience, and a little luck will always mean more than someone in the elected class yakking about leadership and crisis management.
 Sure, Gov. <a href="/topics/David_A_Paterson">David A. Paterson</a>'s declaration of "a miracle on the Hudson" and Mayor <a href="/topics/Michael_Bloomberg">Michael Bloomberg</a>'s crisp presentation of the facts afterward were totally fitting. And nobody argues with Sen. <a href="/topics/Charles_Schumer">Charles Schumer</a>'s symbolic resolution introduced the next day hailing the captain, crew and first-responders. But this drama had a shockingly happy ending because people from pilot <a href="/topics/Chesley_Sullenberger">Chesley Sullenberger</a> III ("Sully for Senate!" some cheered) to the <a href="/topics/New_York">New York</a> Waterway employees and city emergency responders used their best judgment.

 LAZARUS LAZIO?: In 2000, <a href="/topics/Long_Island">Long Island</a> Republican Rep. <a href="/topics/Rick_Lazio">Rick Lazio</a> backed off running for <a href="/topics/U.S._Senate">U.S. Senate</a> to support then Mayor <a href="/topics/Rudy_Giuliani">Rudy Giuliani</a>. But when the GOP mayor was diagnosed with cancer and dropped out, Lazio became nominee and lost to <a href="/topics/Hillary_Rodham_Clinton">Hillary Rodham Clinton</a>. Lazio allies later claimed if he'd started early he could have won. Now that Lazio - long out of Congress and employed by <a href="/topics/J.P._Morgan_Chase_%26_Co.">JP Morgan Chase</a> - floats his name for governor in 2010, he may be way less likely to yield to Giuliani again. Rep. <a href="/topics/Peter_King">Peter King</a> (R-Seaford) said Friday, "I spoke to Rick last week and he told me he was definitely thinking of it ... I've spoken to Giuliani and he told me the same thing."

 CONGRESS CACHE: The campaign of Rep. <a href="/topics/Steve_Israel">Steve Israel</a>, Lazio's Democratic successor now seeking Paterson's nod for U.S. Senate, has $1.7 million on hand that could go to a 2010 special. He raised some $485,000 in December.

 EROSION UPDATE: The 30-member state Senate GOP minority headed by <a href="/topics/Dean_Skelos">Dean Skelos</a> (R-<a href="/topics/Rockville_Centre">Rockville Centre</a>) faces further erosion. Several retirements by GOP veterans are possible, and enrollment trends are turning some districts Democratic. If <a href="/topics/U.S._Democratic_Party">Democrats</a> keep the house, they'll control redistricting. They then could, for example, shore up new <a href="/topics/Suffolk">Suffolk</a> Sen. Brian Foley's likely voters in the 3rd S.D. by shifting borders north toward <a href="/topics/Port_Jefferson">Port Jefferson</a> and <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook">Stony Brook</a> ... Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) is said to court Republican Sen. Jim Alesi of Monroe County, possibly with the chairmanship of a standing committee. Quietly, several <a href="/topics/U.S._Republican_Party">Republicans</a> question Skelos' choice of district fights - which last time included futile pushes against Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) and <a href="/topics/Suzi_Oppenheimer">Suzi Oppenheimer</a> (D-Mamaroneck).

 TOUSSIE TOSSUP: Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat looking to challenge Bloomberg, said weeks ago he'd decide whether to return $4,950 each in campaign contributions from Robert and Laura Toussie, parents of pardoned-then-not-pardoned real estate scammer Isaac Toussie. "No update as of yet," Weiner spokesman John Collins said Friday.

ny-lijani196004351jan19

Rescuers of US Airways Flight 1549 stand out

From City Hall to the <a href="/topics/White_House">White House</a>, at office water coolers and on Internet social sites, <a href="/topics/Chesley_Sullenberger">Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger</a> III seemed to be everywhere at once Friday, and nowhere.
 The cool-headed, white-haired <a href="/topics/US_Airways">US Airways</a> pilot who became a hero when he guided his stricken craft safely into the Hudson River Thursday, turning a potentially horrific disaster into something very much like a miracle, was not on hand to accept his key to the city.
 He wasn't at his wife's side when she spoke outside their Northern <a href="/topics/California">California</a> home, calling him "a pilot's pilot," their two daughters by her side. And he uttered not a peep when <a href="/topics/U.S._Congress">Congress</a> voted to recognize his heroism.
 As the public's eagerness to hoist Sullenberger on the nation's collective shoulder went unfulfilled - the pilot has been asked not to speak publicly while federal officials investigate the incident - his name was evoked with reverence.
 At Battery Park City Friday, workers used their lunch hour to stand in the frigid wind to glimpse the mostly submerged craft from which Sullenberger and 154 others made safe exit.
 "To land that plane like that, you had to be perfect," said Nile Edwards, 40, an insurance company employee from St. Albans, <a href="/topics/Queens">Queens</a>. "If the wing had hit the water and it had started spinning, you could have had a lot of fatalities. The pilot did it just right ... and everyone helped out. It's a great <a href="/topics/New_York">New York</a> story."
 Denise Grant, 49, of the <a href="/topics/Bronx">Bronx</a>, shook her head at the wonder of it all, and expressed her gratitude. Since 9/11, she said, "you can get panicky working in <a href="/topics/Manhattan">Manhattan</a>. It was just great to see something so disastrous and no one was hurt."
 Many spoke of Sullenberger's expertise and calm demeanor as he twice checked the sinking plane for others before he himself abandoned ship. Sullenberger was last to leave the lifeboat he and several other passengers were in, said Carl Lucas, captain of a NY Waterway ferry that brought 19 people to shore.
 Passenger Mark Hood of <a href="/topics/Charlotte">Charlotte</a>, N.C., said Sullenberger calmly warned passengers to brace for the impact. "Had he let any tension leak into his voice," Hood said, "it would have been magnified in the passengers."
 Sullenberger reportedly took congratulatory calls from President <a href="/topics/George_W._Bush">George W. Bush</a> and President-elect <a href="/topics/Barack_Obama">Barack Obama</a> on Friday as thousands became a Sullenberger 'fan' on the social networking Web site <a href="/topics/Facebook_Inc.">Facebook</a>.
 Sen. <a href="/topics/Charles_Schumer">Charles Schumer</a> of New York said the <a href="/topics/U.S._Senate">Senate</a> passed a resolution commending the crew and responders.
 At a City Hall ceremony recognizing many of the responders, Mayor <a href="/topics/Michael_Bloomberg">Michael Bloomberg</a> said he would hold on to Sullenberger's brass key to the city until he became available.
 Sullenberger's wife, Lorraine, told <a href="/topics/CNN">CNN</a> she had been surprised to hear of the crash. "I know flying is very safe and he called and said there had been an incident. I thought he had, you know, run into something in the parking lot at the airport."
 Marc Beja contributed to this story, which was supplemented with <a href="/topics/Associated_Press">Associated Press</a> reports.

ny-nypilo176001807jan17

Pilot Sullenberger celebrated everywhere as a hero

Aside from possible injuries, hypothermia from exposure 
to the frigid waters of the Hudson River would be the first medical concern for
 survivors of the <a href="/topics/US_Airways">US Airways</a> plane crash yesterday, doctors said. 
 "More than a few minutes' exposure puts you at risk," said Dr. Steven 
Walerstein, medical director of Nassau University Medical Center in <a href="/topics/East_Meadow">East Meadow</a>.
 Hypothermia, which can cause death, occurs when the core body temperature 
falls below 95 degrees and the heart, kidneys or central nervous system are 
affected.
 "Mechanical trauma" - broken bones - would also be a concern, said Dr. David 
Lee, an emergency medicine doctor at <a href="/topics/North_Shore_University_Hospital">North Shore University Hospital</a> in 
Manhasset. 
 Emergency medical workers would immediately try to wrap survivors in dry 
blankets to let their bodies warm up, Walerstein said.
 If the hypothermia appeared to be more severe - symptoms can include 
shivering, confusion, memory loss, slowed heartbeat, slurred speech - 
treatments can become "more invasive," Lee said.
 Wrapping the person in heated blankets or inserting warmed catheters into 
the body can be used in more extreme cases, he said.
 Both doctors said survivors with lung or heart disease could also be 
vulnerable to a worsening of their symptoms. "The stress, the outpouring of 
adrenaline, could cause an imbalance in the blood and oxygen and you could see 
angina [chest pain when the heart doesn't get enough blood] or heart attacks," 
Walerstein said. 
 People with <a href="/topics/Asthma">asthma</a> or emphysema could experience more difficulty breathing,
 he said.

LIHYPO16

TWO WINGS AND A PRAYER: Crash victims' other danger: hypothermia

The crash-landing into the Hudson River is likely to 
crystallize in the minds of crew and passengers as a close encounter with 
death, an experience that can produce profound physiological and psychological 
effects, according to disaster research and a leading expert who counseled 9/11
 survivors.
 "We react very strongly to trauma because it shatters one of our 
fundamental beliefs about life: that we are basically secure," said Dr. Alan 
Manevitz, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell College
 of Medicine in Manhattan.
 When brushing so close against death, Manevitz added, "You develop an acute
 traumatic reaction." Even after reaching safety, "your mind holds on to the 
trauma very strongly," he said.
 Manevitz counseled many people who survived the collapse of the Twin Towers
 in 2001 and later he counseled survivors of Hurricane Katrina and the terror 
attack in Mumbai.
 A flurry of scientific studies following the World Trade Center attacks 
revealed that countless survivors experienced post-traumatic stress syndrome. 
Medical investigators found the same to be true for many Katrina survivors. 
 It is still far too early to tell whether post-traumatic stress syndrome 
will affect any of the 155 people aboard the jet in yesterday's belly landing 
on the Hudson, Manevitz said, because it takes months to years for the 
condition to manifest itself. However, there are likely immediate reactions 
that are very pronounced.
 "Everyone can have an acute stress reaction," he said of a combined 
psychological and physiological response to what passengers and crew probably 
perceived as a close encounter with death.
 Acute stress, he said, is driven by fear. "You release epinephrine and 
norepinephrine from the medulla of the adrenal glands," Manevitz said of two 
leading "fight or flight" hormones.
 Following that can be any one of a number of reactions - feeling shocked or
 dazed, numb, exhilarated or even overwhelmingly relieved.
 Post-traumatic stress disorder takes at least two months to occur. "And you
 know when that's happening," Manevitz said, listing a range of symptoms from 
intrusive memories, difficulty falling asleep, flashbacks and avoidance of 
people or situations that make you recall the traumatizing incident.
 "But this is really a story with a happy ending - even the pilot was a 
hero," Manevitz said.

LIPSYC16

TWO WINGS AND A PRAYER: Trauma of near-death

Planes can float, but the <a href="/topics/US_Airways">US Airways</a> <a href="/topics/Airbus">Airbus</a> A320 that 
crashed into the Hudson River yesterday had a better chance than most.
 That's because it was equipped with a special device unique to Airbus 
planes that increased the likelihood it would stay on top of the water.
 The device, called a "ditching switch," effectively seals the plane by 
closing valves and ventilation ports, a spokesman for the airline said.
 Industry experts said the ditching switch is rarely invoked, as "it's not 
as if anyone expects to ditch these planes," said Robert W. Mann, who owns a 
Port Washington-based aviation consulting company.
 With the valves and ports shut, "a float line" is created, Airbus 
spokeswoman Mary Anne Greczyn said in an e-mail.
 "The ditching switch closes all of the open ports in the bottom of the 
fuselage," said Frank Ayers, chairman of the flight training department at 
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.
 Mann said opening an emergency exit - which happened yesterday when the 
plane was evacuated - is not a problem as long as the door is above the 
waterline.
 Peter R. Leffe, an aviation accident investigator in <a href="/topics/Malibu">Malibu</a>, <a href="/topics/California">Calif</a>., noted 
that because airplanes in general are pressurized, they have some ability to 
float, providing they don't break up when they hit water.
 "The airplane is a pressure vessel," he said. "It can float as long as 
water doesn't leak in."
 But airplanes can't float forever.
 Water will eventually find a way to seep in, and the airplane's weight will
 drive it to the bottom.
 "They're not amphibious," Mann said. "But the general rule of thumb is, 
when they're full of fuel, which is lighter than water, they will float, as 
long as their structural integrity is intact."
 The Airbus A320, along with the <a href="/topics/Boeing">Boeing</a> 737-800, is one of the two most 
"ubiquitous aircraft" in American air travel, said Mann. It has an aluminum 
hull and is "as garden variety as airplanes get," he said.
 There are about 2,000 A320 Airbuses worldwide, 425 of which are in North 
America, Greczyn said.
 The planes, which debuted in 1988, typically seat 150 passengers and are 
the most popular Airbuses, she said.

LIFLOA16

TWO WINGS AND A PRAYER: Flotation device helped

A pilot making a crash-landing of the <a href="/topics/Airbus">Airbus</a> A320 like 
the one that plunged into the Hudson River yesterday would sit at his or her 
seat gripping an instrument called a sidestick to control the giant jetliner's 
pitch and roll.
 The pilot's feet would be on the rudder pedals. And as the aircraft neared 
the water, the crew would labor to keep the plane's nose up, the flaps down and
 the landing gear up. 
 <a href="/topics/US_Airways">US Airways</a> pilot Chesley B. Sullenberger III, who landed his A320 jetliner 
in the Hudson yesterday and safely evacuated everyone aboard, hasn't yet told 
his story. But experts attributed the safe landing to the flight crew's 
presence of mind and Sullenberger's apparent adherence to the emergency 
protocols taught to all pilots.
 "These are very, very experienced pilots," said John M. Cox, president of 
Safety Operating Systems in Washington and a former commercial jet captain and 
safety official with the Air Line Pilots Association.
 When you're a pilot with a flight full of passengers, no power and no way 
to get to a nearby airport, Cox and others said, the first thing to do is look 
for a big open spot to land while maintaining exquisite control over the 
aircraft.
 "If the area that is the most open happened to be the Hudson River, that 
would be the choice," said Cox, who flew for US Air.
 Cox said it is not possible to jettison fuel from this particular model, an
 Airbus A320, which adds to the imminent danger in making crash landings.
 Faced with the difficult decision to try a water landing, "a pilot would 
first look at the conditions of the waves," said Ross Aimer, a test pilot for 
the <a href="/topics/Boeing">Boeing</a> Co. In yesterday's landing, the water was calm, so rough seas were 
not a problem.
 In trying to land with no engine power, the goal is to keep the aircraft 
descending at a shallow angle in the most controlled way possible. "You stretch
 the glide," Cox said, "so that you're getting as many feet forward as you can 
for per each foot of altitude loss."
 As that happens, the pilot must also ensure that the jet does not stall, or
 "lose its lift."
 Finally, shortly before impact, the pilot would tell the passengers to 
brace themselves for an emergency landing. 
 Slowing the plane would help minimize the impact, experts said.
 "The airplane should contact the water in the flattest attitude and at the 
slowest speed," said Frank Ayers, chairman of the flight training department at
 Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.
 The pilot must fight to keep the nose from pitching down once it touches 
water. It's also critical to keep the wings from cutting into the water, 
something that could cause them to rip apart, said Peter R. Leffe, an aviation 
accident investigator in Malibu, Calif.
 Once the US Airways plane was down, the flight crew hustled to open the 
doors and inflate the raft slides so passengers could exit the plane, Cox said.
 "I was very impressed. ... It was a very organized evacuation."

LIEMER16

TWO WINGS AND A PRAYER: How well-trained crew saves lives

This was Debbie Ramsey's second flight ever. Her first 
was the flight Monday from her home in <a href="/topics/Tennessee">Tennessee</a> to <a href="/topics/New_York">New York</a> City for a 
business trip.
 The district manager for a women's clothing company was in seat 13A. She 
escaped to a wing, losing her shoes, then called her husband.
 "I said, 'Oh, my God, I'm in the river,'" she said, standing in the US 
Airways terminal at LaGuardia last night in socks, pajama bottoms - her jeans 
were soaked - and wrapped in a Red Cross blanket.
 Ramsey, 48, said her husband was driving to New York and they would drive 
home together to Tennessee. 
 "I lost my shoes, but I've got my life, and that's all that matters," she 
said.
 But, she said, she's "never flying again."
 
 Clay Presley, 54, from <a href="/topics/Charlotte">Charlotte</a>, N.C., had seat 15D. He owns a school 
supply company and was in New York for a business meeting. He was staying the 
night at the LaGuardia Crowne Plaza and planned to take a <a href="/topics/US_Airways">US Airways</a> flight 
home today.
 He said there was a "big bang sound" as the first engine went, "and the 
plane shuddered. 
 "Everybody got very quiet." Then, he said, after about 30 seconds, the 
other engine went out and the pilot told passengers to prepare for impact. "It 
was the longest 30 seconds of your life," Presley recalled.
 He said after what felt like three hard impacts, the plane settled into the
 water. Exit row passengers disembarked calmly, opening the side doors and 
inflating rafts.
 He said he and other passengers were on one of the wings for about 20 
minutes, that it was very slippery and that they were "frozen over" after about
 a minute.
 
 Passenger Bill Elkin spoke about his ordeal as he walked into the Crowne 
Plaza hotel near LaGuardia, a Red Cross blanket draped around his shoulders.
 "I was thinking: This can't be it. This can't be the end. It's just like, 
if you've ever been in a car wreck, it seemed to take so long, but it happened 
really fast. 
 "Once it hit, I remember just trying to get out of the plane ... and the 
water was coming into the plane really fast. I could feel it running over the 
top of my feet and that's really what scared me. I thought, 'I survived the 
impact and now I'm going to drown.'"

LIVIG16

TWO WINGS AND A PRAYER: 'I lost my shoes, but I've got my life'

A doctor, a researcher, a motorist, a ferry passenger and 
owners of a bar-cafe were going about their business yesterday afternoon when 
they witnessed the astounding sight of a commercial jet making an emergency 
landing in the middle of the Hudson River, off midtown Manhattan.
 Here are their stories:
 
 'THERE WAS A HUGE SPLASH.' Dr. Daniel Grosu, 35, who lives on the New 
Jersey side of the Hudson River, was on his computer working when, from his 
fifth-floor apartment, he saw a US Airways jetliner gliding by. He ran to his 
balcony.
 "I could see the plane coming lower and lower," recalled Grosu, who said 
the plane was about 200 to 300 meters above the water.
 At first, Grosu said he feared the plane would crash into the buildings. 
But the pilot, he said, seemed to have control of the twin-jet Airbus A320, 
which was heading south.
 "As soon as it hits the water, there was a huge splash. Then, I can see the
 plane was floating," said Grosu. "I am no expert, but what I saw was 
impressive."
 In a matter of seconds, Grosu saw five to 10 people standing on the plane's
 left wing, he said. Within minutes, Grosu said, several ferries arrived and 
the passengers began boarding the vessels.
 
 'WHY IS IT SO LOW?' Barbara Sambriski, a researcher, was at work at The 
Associated Press, when she saw the plane pass by her office window. 
[CORRECTION: Seventy-three people died in the Avianca Airline crash in Cove 
Neck on Jan. 25, 1990. The number of victims was incorrect in a story Friday.
 Also, a portion of one account Friday of the crash of US Airways Flight 
1549 was incorrectly attributed to Barbara Sambriski, a researcher at The 
Associated Press. The description of the plane passing an office window and of 
the scene just after the plane hit water came from other sources. (A19 ALL 
1/17/09)]
 "I just thought, 'Why is it so low?' And, splash, it hit the water," 
Sambriski told the wire service.
 The next moment, she saw the plane submerged in the icy waters up to the 
windows. Rescue crews opened the door and began pulling passengers, wearing 
yellow life vests, from the plane, she said. Several boats surrounded the 
plane, which, Sambriski said, appeared to be sinking slowly.
 
 'JUST SITTING THERE.' Tierney Santiago was driving south on the West Side 
Highway, near the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, when he saw the low-flying 
plane passing him at a pace that seemed to be going at the speed of the traffic
 on the street.
 "The plane was close and it was going very slow," he said. "Then eventually
 it appeared to hit, rear-first. It was an abrupt stop. There was a huge splash
 and the plane was just sitting there. It was a real sight to see."
 Santiago pulled his car over.
 "The plane was just sitting there quietly," Santiago said.
 
 WAITING ON THE WINGS. Janis Krums was a passenger on a ferry that was 
heading to New Jersey when the plane landed in the river. The ferry Krums was 
on was diverted to rescue passengers from the plane. It was the first to arrive
 on the scene and plucked 30 to 40 passengers who were standing on the plane's 
wing.
 "It was freezing and they were a little shaken up, but everyone was lined 
up on the wings and waiting," Krums said. "We were there by chance."
 
 'IT SLOWLY SANK.' Rich Berlin, 66, and his daughter, Tara Berlin, were 
working at the family-owned Hudson Blue-Seatle's Best Caf�, a bar and coffee 
kiosk located inside the Port Imperial Weehawken ferry terminal, when the plane
 went down.
 "I was over at the coffee kiosk and I heard 'Oh, my God' and then I saw a 
plane going into the water," said Rich Berlin. "I saw it gliding and stopping 
and it slowly sank. It took a while."
 Three NY Waterway boats came "racing across" from the Jersey side to where 
the plane landed, Rich Berlin said.
 Later, some of the passengers were brought to the ferry terminal. "The 
first guy who came in was soaked and shaking like crazy," said Rich Berlin.
 Berlin and his daughter served the passengers hot dogs, pretzels and coffee.
 "A young man asked for a shot," Rich Berlin said. "I gave him coffee."
 The second passenger, 25, came off the boat and spoke to Tara Berlin, she 
said, making the same request. "'I just need to jog in place and do a shot,'" 
he told Tara Berlin, she said. "I gave him a shot of Jack Daniels."
 The Associated Press contributed to this story.

LISCEN16

TWO WINGS AND A PRAYER: 'There were a lot of scared people'

Chesley Burnett Sullenberger wanted to fly from the time
 he was a boy, watching fighter jets roar over his small hometown in <a href="/topics/Texas">Texas</a>.
 After a long career as a commercial pilot, Air Force fighter pilot, 
accident investigator and safety expert, Sullenberger, 57, faced his own 
emergency yesterday, landing <a href="/topics/US_Airways">US Airways</a> Flight 1549 on the Hudson River.
 As the last passengers climbed onto ferry boats, Sullenberger walked the 
entire plane, twice, making sure that no one was left behind, Mayor Michael 
Bloomberg said at a news conference last night.
 "I'm not surprised at all," said Doug Hoover, 58, who was a high school 
classmate of the pilot in Denison, Texas. "This is his first chance to be a 
hero, but he always had it in him. He would have gone down with the ship, if 
that's what it took."
 Denison was home to an Air Force jet training base.
 "We grew up with jets buzzing around and he was in love with that from the 
get-go," Hoover said. 
 Sullenberger took private lessons and earned his private pilot's license 
when he was a junior in high school, said Jim Russell, 57, another classmate 
who played with Burnett in the junior high and high school marching bands. 
 "Occasionally, he would take me up in a plane," Russell said. "We would fly
 around and look at everything." 
 Sullenberger, known then as Burnett, was a committed kid with a sharp mind 
and strong sense of duty, his friends said. He could cut it up with the rest of
 them, Hoover said, but he remained focused on one thing. 
 "He didn't want to do anything to hurt his chances to get into the Air 
Force Academy," Hoover said. "He never got into any mischief whatsoever."
 His father was a dentist and his mother taught elementary school. Both 
parents encouraged his flying dreams, Hoover said.
 He passed the academy's rigorous entry requirements in 1969 and headed to 
Colorado Springs.
 Commissioned four years later as an Air Force officer, Sullenberger, who 
now goes by the nickname "Sully," soon developed an interest in accident 
prevention. A fighter pilot flying F-4 Phantom II jets, he served as a member 
of the U.S. Air Force mishap investigation board.
 In 1980, he joined US Airways and began a long civilian career as a pilot, 
investigator, researcher and entrepreneur, founding Safety Reliability Methods,
 a company that helps businesses improve their safety.
 Sullenberger now lives in <a href="/topics/Danville">Danville</a>, Calif., where he is a visiting scholar 
at the University of <a href="/topics/California">California</a> at Berkeley's Center for Catastrophic Risk 
Management, which studies safety, infrastructure, and preparedness in accidents
 and natural disasters.
 Sullenberger was the right person to guide passengers through a crisis, 
Karlene Roberts, a friend who co-directs the center told the Contra-Costa Times
 of Walnut Creek, Calif.
 "I can imagine him being sufficiently in charge to get those people out," 
Roberts said. "He's got that kind of personality, which is to his credit."
 A few minutes after takeoff yesterday, Sullenberger told air traffic 
control that he had experienced a "multiple bird strike," said Bill McLoughlin,
 a union representative at <a href="/topics/LaGuardia_Airport">LaGuardia Airport</a> for the National Air Traffic 
Controllers Association. Both engines quit.
 Passengers said Sullenberger told them to brace for impact, then landed on 
the water.
 "He was phenomenal," said passenger Joe Hart, 50, of Massapequa. "He landed
 it. I tell you what - the impact wasn't a whole lot more than a rear-end 
[collision]. It threw you into the seat ahead of you."
 While politicians and passengers lauded Sullenberger as a hero yesterday, 
his wife fielded calls from reporters.
 Reached by phone, she said simply that she was proud of him.
 Staff writers Eden Laikin and Andrew Strickler and The Associated Press 
contributed to this story.
 NUMBER OF PEOPLE ON BOARD 
155 
WATER TEMPERATURE 
36 DEGREES 
ESTIMATED NUMBER TREATED 
78 
NUMBER DEAD 
0

LIPILO16

TWO WINGS AND A PRAYER: This hero was born to fly

Some of the major airplane crashes involving <a href="/topics/New_York">New York</a> City 
airports:
 Feb. 1, 1957 - Twenty people died when a <a href="/topics/Miami">Miami</a>-bound airliner crashed onto 
Rikers Island moments after taking off from LaGuardia in a blinding snowstorm. 
Seventy-four others on board survived.
 Feb. 3, 1959 - An <a href="/topics/American_Airlines">American Airlines</a> plane crashed into the East River, 
killing 65 people.
 Dec. 16, 1960 - TWA Flight 266 from Dayton, Ohio, bound for LaGuardia 
Airport collided in a heavy snowstorm over Staten Island with United Flight 825
 from <a href="/topics/Chicago">Chicago</a>, bound for Idlewild (now Kennedy) Airport. All 128 people on 
board the two aircraft died, as did six people on the ground.
 Feb. 8, 1965 - An Eastern Airlines DC-7B crashed into the Atlantic Ocean 
off Jones Beach, shortly after taking off from Kennedy. All 84 on board were 
killed.
 June 24, 1975 - An Eastern Airlines <a href="/topics/Boeing">Boeing</a> 727 carrying 124 persons crashed
 while attempting to land at Kennedy Airport during a thunderstorm. The crash 
left 113 people dead and 11 seriously injured.
 Sept. 20, 1989 - Two people are killed when a USAir Boeing 737 plane bound 
to <a href="/topics/Charlotte">Charlotte</a>, N.C., with 62 people on board slid off the end of the runway into
 the East River during takeoff from <a href="/topics/LaGuardia_Airport">LaGuardia Airport</a> in <a href="/topics/Queens">Queens</a>.
 Jan. 25, 1990 - An Avianca Airline Boeing 707 crashed into Cove Neck after 
the plane ran out of fuel on its attempt to land at Kennedy Airport, killing 
150 people on board. [CORRECTION: Seventy-three people died in the Avianca 
Airline crash in Cove Neck on Jan. 25, 1990. The number of victims was 
incorrect in a story Friday.
 Also, a portion of one account Friday of the crash of <a href="/topics/US_Airways">US Airways</a> Flight 
1549 was incorrectly attributed to Barbara Sambriski, a researcher at The 
Associated Press. The description of the plane passing an office window and of 
the scene just after the plane hit water came from other sources. (A19 ALL 
1/17/09)]
 July 17, 1996 - TWA Flight 800 exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean
 off Moriches Inlet only minutes after departing Kennedy Airport. The crash, 
bound for <a href="/topics/Paris">Paris</a>, killed all 230 people on board.
 Sept. 11, 2001 - In the worst air disaster in American history, terrorists 
fly two planes into the World Trade Center, killing 147 passengers in the two 
planes and about 2,600 people in the towers. Two other planes were hijacked and
 were crashed into a field in <a href="/topics/Pennsylvania">Pennsylvania</a> and the Pentagon, killing hundreds 
more.
 Nov. 12, 2001 - All 260 on board and five people on the ground were killed 
with a plane crashed into a neighborhood in Rockaway, Queens. American Flight 
587 was bound for the <a href="/topics/Dominican_Republic">Dominican Republic</a> from Kennedy Airport, and crashed 
three minutes after takeoff.
 Oct. 11, 2006 - A single-engine airplane owned by Yankees pitcher Cory 
Lidle slammed into the side of a <a href="/topics/Manhattan">Manhattan</a> apartment tower, killing Lidle and 
his flight instructor, Tyler Stanger.

LICRAS16

TWO WINGS AND A PRAYER : Airplane accidents through the years

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