It was one year ago today the world watched as Flight 1549 crashed landed in an icy Hudson River in an event dubbed the Miracle on the Hudson. The following story was in the DNAinfo news service and tells the story. Let us pray for another miracle in Haiti.
DNAinfo - Manhattan Local News
Flight 1549 Passengers and Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger Mark Miracle on the Hudson Anniversary
January 15, 2010 12:34pm
By Serena Solomon and Mariel S. Clark
DNAinfo Reporter/Producers
MIDTOWN WEST — One year after their plane splashed down in the Hudson River, the crew and passengers of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 are in the middle of a busy day of events to remember the miraculous flight.
The now-famous "Miracle on the Hudson" pilot Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger along with his crew and many of the passengers will take an afternoon ferry to the spot where the Airbus A320 landed.
But earlier on Friday, they took part in a breakfast hosted by the American Red Cross of Greater New York, which assisted in the rescue efforts.
"I have always believed that life is fleeting commodity," Sullenberger said at the breakfast. "We have much to celebrate, much to be grateful for."
The mood at the morning gathering was cheerful. Some of the passengers wore Red Cross blankets like the ones they wrapped themselves in after being rescued from the frigid waters a year ago.
The anniversary celebration also included passengers Ben Bostic and Laura Zych, who started dating after the crash.
"If it was any other flight I never would have had a second chance," said Bostic.
Another passenger, Clay Presley, joked that Capt. Sully overlooked one thing that day — he left the fasten seat belt sign on after the plane had landed in the river.
Gov. David Paterson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg also attended the breakfast.
"It was one of the happiest moments of my life to be able to tell New Yorkers that the 155 passengers and crew members of flight 1549 were safe," Bloomberg said.
Friday afternoon the passengers and crew are expected to take a ferry to the spot where the plane splashed down. They will raise a glass together at 3:31 p.m., the exact moment the plane hit on the water last year.
The survivors will reportedly toast with Grey Goose vodka, a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement of the flock of Canada geese that disabled both of the plane's engines and forced the emergency landing just minutes after the flight departed LaGuardia Airport.
The "Miracle on the Hudson" is the only known water landing by a commercial airline in which everyone on board survived.
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