Fifteen years ago, New York experienced the “Miracle on the Hudson,” when the disabled US Airways Flight 1549 landed on the Hudson River, and more than 143 lives were saved thanks to the incredible efforts both pilot Chelsey Sullenberger and ferry crews that came to their rescue.
NY Waterway ferry workers raced to the landing site, pulling 143 passengers and crew members from the water. The U.S. Coast Guard and the New York City Fire Department also stepped in and saved 12 additional people. As a result, everyone on board that flight survived.
The Miracle on the Hudson is believed to be the most successful maritime rescue of a crashed plane in aviation history.
“The passage of time does not diminish the Miracle on the Hudson. It is part of our legacy, a testament to the training and professionalism of our captains and crews. We will always be proud of the role we played in the rescue of the passengers of Flight 1549 and delight in the fact that all got back on land safely that bitter, cold January day,” said NY Waterway CEO Armand Pohan.
Flight 1549 took off from LaGuardia Airport, bound for Charlotte, NC, on the afternoon of Jan. 15. Moments after take-off, the plane struck a flock of birds, losing engine power. With no ability to turn back to LaGuardia or toward another airport to land, Sullenberger guided the plane into a landing on the Hudson River near Midtown. The plane remained in tact and floated on the water.
Capt. Vincent Lombardi had just pulled the ferry, named Thomas Jefferson, away from West 39th Street, the 3:30 p.m. departure, when the plane landed . Three minutes later he was next to the plane, with deckhands Hector Rabanes and Wilfredo Rivera deployed the Jason’s Cradle and pulled 56 people on board.
Meanwhile, Capt. Manny Liba and his crew on the Moira Smith rescued 14 people while Capt. Brittany Catanzaro and her crew on the Gov. Thomas Kean saved 24 people. Just one minute later, Capt. Vincent LuCante on the ferry Yogi Berra was there, as was Capt. Mike Starr, who had jumped aboard at the work dock, pulled in 22 people, including two babies.
All of the rescued passengers were taken to ferry terminals at West 39th Street in Manhattan and Port Imperial in Weehawken.
When then-NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg asked NY Waterway Vice President of Ferry Operations Alan Warren what his crews were thinking when they saw the plane in the water, Warren said, “We don’t think. We just react.”
Experts say that if the crews did not respond as quickly as they did, many of those passengers and crew members would have died or suffered severe effects of hypothermia. The events of the rescue were portrayed in the film “Sully,” starring Tom Hanks as Sullenberger.
For more information on NY Waterway, visit nywaterway.com.
