The pilot aboard U.S. Airways Flight 1549 came over the speaker system and told passengers "brace for impact." One passenger turned on his cell phone so his body could be found with its GPS tracking. Others reflected on their lives.
Survivors said it was about 20 seconds later when the plane struck the water of the Hudson River on Thursday afternoon.
Embedded video from CNN Video
Embedded video from CNN Video
Each of them lauded the heroics of the pilot, Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III.
Vince Spera
"He's the man! He's absolutely the man. ... If you want to talk to a hero, get ahold of him because that is the hero in this whole deal."
Spera described "the moment of impact": "Have you ever been in a speedboat and hit some wake? That's what it felt like, when you go over the wake and you hit the water again. ... It wasn't that bad of an impact, which was strange. And then after that, there wasn't a lot of yelling and screaming. It was fairly orderly getting off the plane."
Valerie Collins
As the pilot announced the plane was going down, Collins grabbed her cell phone. "I grabbed my phone and turned it on and got my husband's name and texted him, 'My flight is crashing,' because I wanted him to know I was thinking of him and, also, I didn't want there to be this, if it did turn out terrible, a time where he was trying to figure out if I was on there or not."
Collins described trying to exit from the back of the plane and the problems a flight attendant had. "She had tried to open both of the back doors and couldn't get them open because of the water pressure. But they were open enough that the water was flowing in. And all of a sudden, she said, 'We're in the water, go to the wings.' And she looked at me and she said, 'We have two minutes.' "
Andrew Jamison
"God was certainly looking out for all of us." Watch one describe how "the engine blew" »
Brad Wentzell
Wentzell cried when talking about returning home to snuggle with his young daughter. "When I get home, I am going to take my nose and put it by her ear, her little warm body and give her a nice kiss from Daddy. I'm alive. That's it. I don't have much else to say."
The simplicity of the moment speaks the magnitude of the event. Wherever we are, whatever we're doing, if / when our time comes, we will be found. Living life to its fullest is critical,but not assuming invincibility also plays a key role.
ReplyDeleteGood point, and all this time I thought I was invicible!!
ReplyDeleteWhen I first saw/ heard the story I cried. Not just for the lives that were spared, not just for the courage and skill Pilot Sullenberger displayed that day; but because this is just another divine un disputable example of how important it is for us to do what we are supposed to do when we are supposed to do it. You never know when the time will come for you to recall everything you have learned and expierenced over the course of your life be it personal or career wise; and your mere existence and the existence of others depends on...not just one decision...but a series of decisions over time.
ReplyDelete@ Constance, I 100% agree! It totality, its called the butterfly affect.
ReplyDelete