15 years after the “Miracle on Hudson”: “It looked like the movie”

In January 2009, a plane had to make an emergency landing in New York’s Hudson after a flock of geese got into its engines. Everyone on board survived – and pilot “Sully” prevented a crash over Manhattan.

They were pictures of an incredible story – that January day in New York: “Everyone got out safely. We hit hard, but thanks to the pilot – he did a hell of a job,” said a passenger. “It looked like something out of a movie, unbelievable,” said an eyewitness.

For Chesley “Sully“ For Sullenberger, it was a start like hundreds of others when he was supposed to fly an almost full Airbus from New York to Charlotte, North Carolina. The US Airways plane was in the air for less than two minutes when it ran into a flock of wild geese, Sullenberger told the business magazine Inc.com.

Three minutes and 28 seconds

No one had seen the large birds coming on the air traffic control radar. The three minutes and 28 seconds that decided Sully’s life and that of the 154 other people on board began with a dull bang.

Sullenberger heard a noise he had never heard before. The engines suddenly failed. The plane sank at five and a half meters per second. The experienced pilot knew: “Unlike all the flights I had completed in 42 years, this one would not end up on a runway undamaged.”

He also knew that the La Guardia departure airport was too far away. In this densely populated high-rise city, there was only one area suitable for landing: the Hudson. The pilot had three minutes and 28 seconds to come up with a plan, communicate with his co-pilots and carefully craft this announcement:

Don’t panic on board

The on-board staff had the matter under control calmly and there was no panic. Co-pilot Jeff Skiles has never flown the plane with a crew, as he said at an event in New York. It was his first flight with an Airbus 320. He had taken his exam days before: “And then this,” he remembered.

As Sullenberger describes, ditching is one of the most dangerous maneuvers of all. The machine could have easily burst. “We came down so quickly it was like we were going down two floors in a hotel elevator in a second,” said Sullenberger.

But his maneuver succeeded. Many things could have gone wrong. He recalled: “We had never trained for this situation. In our training it was not even possible to practice a water landing.”

Emergency landing in the Hudson filmed by Hollywood

Sullenberger not only saved all the passengers, the crew and himself. He also prevented a crash disaster in the high-rise desert of Manhattan. People couldn’t believe their eyes.

The pilot remained on board until he was sure everyone else on the floating plane had been pulled to safety in the ice-cold river. For the passengers and for people all over the world, the then 57-year-old was a hero. For investigators at the US Federal Aviation Administration, he became a hunted man. When looking for those responsible for the drama, they wanted to find a black mark on him. But they found none. “Sully” remained a superhero.

Among other things, Hollywood star Clint Eastwood filmed his story with Tom Hanks in the lead role. When pilot “Sully” appears at events in New York these days, the lifesaver leaves the main role to his passengers from back then: “Everyone who gets on a plane would like to believe that ‘Sully’ is flying it. Because that guarantees: It doesn’t always end in disaster when something goes wrong,” said Pam Seagle 15 years after the Miracle on the Hudson.