All 155 passengers on Charlotte-bound U.S. Airways Flight 1549 survived a miraculous landing in the Hudson River after both engines failed, apparently from striking birds.
The New York Times writes of pilot Chesley B. Sullenberger’s deft landing:
What might have been a catastrophe in New York one that evoked the feel if not the scale of the Sept. 11 attack was averted by a pilot’s quick thinking and deft maneuvers, and by the nearness of rescue boats, a combination that witnesses and officials called miraculous.
Meanwhile, The Charlotte Observer spoke to several North Carolinian survivors, among them Mark Hood, 48, of Charlotte, who says Sullenberger was the last off the plane:
‘He looked unflappable. It was a testament to leadership,” Hood said. ‘I heard him reinforcing over and over to his crew – ‘Did you get the count right? Did you get the count right?’”Hood said. […]
‘I don’t know if you believe in God, but that was a miracle out there today.”
