The Miracle on the Hudson | 16 Years Later
January 15th, 2009, was a day like many others at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport. 150 passengers and 5 crew members boarded N106US, a then 9.5 year old Airbus A320, for their 2 hour flight to Charlotte. The pilot in command was Chesley Burnett "Sully"Sullenberger III, a 59 year old captain with almost 20,000 hours of experience. With him in the flight deck was 49 year old Jeffrey Skiles, who had 15,000 flight hours at the time of the accident.
The flight was cleared for takeoff to the northeast from LaGuardia’s Runway 4 at 15:24. The winds were calm, with just a few broken clouds at around 4,000 feet. Just under 2 minutes after takeoff, Sullenberger remarked to Skiles, “what a view of the Hudson today.” At 15:27, at an altitude of 2,818, about 4.5 miles northwest of the airport, the aircraft flew into a flock of large birds, later identified as Canada Geese. Passengers and crew heard very loud bangs and saw flames from the engines, followed by silence and an odor of fuel. The pilots quickly realized that both of the engines were out and Sullenberger took control while Skiles worked the checklist for engine restart. Just 25 seconds after the birds hit, Captain Sullenberger called in a mayday to New York TRACON, saying that they intended to turn back to LaGuardia. The controller immediately stopped all traffic at LGA, and directed the stricken aircraft to make a straight in approach for Runway 13, to which Sullenberger replied “unable.”
The controller quickly laid out options for a landing at New Jersey’s Teterboro, Sullenberger initially responded, “Yes”, but then, “We can’t do it … We’re gonna be in the Hudson.” The controller quickly informed the Coast Guard to be put on alert as Captain Sullenberger said over the PA system “brace for impact.” At 15:30 touched down on the Hudson River, roughly opposite West 50th Street. According to flight data recorder data, the plane impacted the river at a calibrated airspeed of 125 knots. Flight attendants compared the ditching to a “hard landing” with “one impact, no bounce, then a gradual deceleration.”
Sullenberger gave the order to evacuate. The doors were opened and slides deployed as the freezing water started pouring in. Luckily for the passengers, this particular waterway is extremely big, being in the heart of America’s largest metropolitan area. Within minutes, two NY Waterway ferries arrived on scene, and started helping the passengers onboard the boats. The Coast Guard quickly followed suit. About 140 New York City firefighters responded to nearby docks, where the passengers were taken and triaged.
Passengers and crew sustained 95 minor and five serious injuries. 78 people were treated for hypothermia, and 24 people were transported to the hospital.
The news of the ditching was in the headlines for days. New York Governor David Paterson said the night of the aftermath said the accident was a " Miracle on the Hudson," thus coining the phrase. US President George W. Bush said that he was “inspired by the skill and heroism of the flight crew,” and President - Elect Barack Obama said that everyone was proud of Sullenberger’s “heroic and graceful job in landing the damaged aircraft.” He additionally invited the entire crew to his inauguration, which took place just five days later.
The crew was subject to a standing ovation less than a month later at Super Bowl XLIII, and Captain Sullenberger threw the ceremonial first pitch at a Major League Baseball game for the San Francisco Giants.
Later that year, Sullenberger published his memoir, Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters, which was adapted into the hit 2016 Clint Eastwood film Sully, starring Tom Hanks.
The aircraft was brought out of the river a week after the crash, where it was thoroughly investigated by the NTSB, who dubbed the incident “the most successful ditching in aviation history.” Once the investigation had concluded, the aircraft was brought to the Sullenberger Aviation Museum, which is on the grounds of the Charlotte - Douglass International Airport (Flight 1549’s intended destination). On the anniversary of the accident, the passengers and crew meet up at the museum.