Flight 1549 Passengers Get $5K to Offset Lost Luggage

(NEWSER) - Over the past few weeks, items both practical and sentimental have been returned to the lucky passengers of Flight 1549, the New York Times reports. Even ruined belongings are packed carefully in tissue paper and dryer sheets. “It made a very emotional experience as positive as it could have been,” said one passenger aboard the flight that went down in the Hudson River in January. More»

'Thank you' inadequate for speedy rescuers, says Sully

(NEWSER) - The moments after the engines of US Airways Flight 1549 died were the worst of his life, hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger tells Katie Couric in a 60 Minutes interview to air Monday. Disbelief was followed by a "sickening, pit-of-your-stomach, falling-through-the-floor feeling," as an eerie silence and a disturbing smell filled the plane, he recalled. More»

Airline paid up for lost belongings, but some eye trauma restitution

(NEWSER) - US Airways paid $5,000 to each passenger aboard Flight 1549 for the baggage that the NTSB needs to keep for its investigation into the crash—but not everyone is satisfied with that payout, reports USA Today. Some say their belongings were worth more than $5,000, while others want restitution for injuries. More»

Passengers amazed to still be alive cope with crash's emotional aftermath

(NEWSER) - Passengers who cheated death in the Hudson River crash are seeing the world through a fresh set of eyes, they tell the AP. They are celebrating the simple joy of still being alive, but many are also haunted by recurring nightmares. Experts say such reactions are normal after such an extraordinary event and most will fully recover given time. More»

Passengers Spirit put on downed jet had uphill battle in getting out of return ticket

(NEWSER) - An airline that canceled its own flight and placed passengers on US Airways 1549 will not, after all, charge them for canceling their return trip, WTIC-TV reports. “I need your credit card number,” a passenger on the jet that ditched in the Hudson River recalls a representative of Spirit Airlines saying, “and our policy is we’re going to charge you $90.” The airline has since said that “they will not be charged anything.” More»