Hudson Rescuers Reflect With Wonder

Commuter ferries, private boats helped save passengers

(NEWSER) - Swift action from a small army of volunteer and working rescuers is credited with saving the lives of everybody on board US Airways Flight 1549, the New York Times reports. Within minutes of the plane hitting the Hudson river, ferries, cruise boats and conventional rescue boats converged on the scene to quickly pluck passengers to safety from the wings of the slowly sinking jet. More»

US Airways pilot the first in over 50 years to land a jet on water without fatalities

(NEWSER) - The pilot of US Airways Flight 1549 is being praised for pulling off one of the rarest and most challenging maneuvers in aviation, the Wall Street Journal reports. Chesley Sullenberger is the first pilot in over 50 years to land a jetliner on water without a single fatality, and he managed to do so while coping with multiple other challenges. More»

Stunned passengers recount terrifying moments before emergency landing

(NEWSER) - A shuddering, heart-stopping boom preceded an eerie quiet in the US Airways jet as it plummeted toward the Hudson River, passengers stunned to still be alive tell the New York Daily News. They prayed and locked arms after the pilot warned them to brace for impact. "I thought we were going to die," said a grandmother. "I kept thinking, 'I never got to tell my family I love them every day.'" More»

(NEWSER) - So how much training do pilots get on how to land on the water? Almost none, writes pilot Patrick Smith, who shelves his regular Salon column this week to offer insights on the Hudson crash-landing. Among them:

• Pilots can read up on how to perform these so-called "ditchings," but they don't come up much in simulators because they're so rare.
• They were two pilots on board, and both deserve credit for a "suberb" job. "They were able to maintain control and, it seems, hit the water at as slow a speed as possible. Had they hit too hard and broken apart, we'd be looking for bodies."

(NEWSER) - A portrait of a hero is emerging from today's jet crash on the Hudson. The pilot, 57-year-old Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, is drawing praise not only for his "masterful" landing without engines but for his calm actions afterward to make sure his passengers were OK, the Daily News reports. "He was the last one off the plane," said Mayor Bloomberg, noting that Sullenberger walked the aisles twice to make sure everyone had gotten out. More»