Survivors of the “Miracle on the Hudson” marked Wednesday’s fifth anniversary of the amazing splash landing by toasting their good fortune on one of the ferries used in the river rescue that saved everyone aboard the ill-fated flight.
About a half-dozen passengers joined hero pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III and co-pilot Jeff Skiles for a brief cruise on the George Washington, one of seven New York Waterway ferries that responded to the emergency.
The group, which also included ferry workers and Sullenberger’s wife and family, hoisted glasses of champagne near the spot where US Airways Flight 1549 landed on Jan. 15, 2009.
They then let out a hearty cheer to celebrate how they avoided death in the river’s icy waters. The Airbus A320 was disabled in midair by a flock of geese that got sucked into its engines.
“We have much to be thankful for,” Sullenberger said.
New York Waterway Chairman Arthur Imperatore praised Sullenberger for landing the A320 on the river after gliding the jet just 900 feet over the George Washington Bridge — but added that he probably had some help from above.
“There’s no question that the ditching was an extraordinary and very skillful procedure that involved some degree of luck, because the river had been frozen only a few days before,” Imperatore said. “I think the hand of God was at work that day.”
Sullenberger, who has since retired, said his heroic landing — which took place after he coolly announced, “This is the captain. Brace for impact” — “only solved the biggest problem of the day.”
“We then had to find a way to get 155 people out of the Hudson River to safety on a day when the air temperature was 21 degrees, the water was 38 degrees and many had gotten wet,” he said.
“Fortunately, without waiting for any official notification, on their own initiative, New York Waterway employees observed Flight 1549 landing, radioed their vessels and began to turn them toward us.”
“We can’t thank them enough, the captains and crew of all the vessels who came to our aid when we very much needed every bit of help that they could give us,” he added.
The marine rescue, during which ferry crews grabbed 143 people, with the FDNY and Coast Guard saving the rest — was the most successful in aviation history.
Denise Lockie, who was sitting in seat 2C, said, “I’m just thankful that I’m here.”
“It’s an emotional day,” she said.
“It was quite a miraculous day. I am very happy to be alive.”
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Hero pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III didn’t just save their lives — he changed them.
Barry Leonard scaled new heights following his brush with death.
Leonard, 60, of Charlotte, NC, was running a home-fashion firm at the time of the splash landing, but changed jobs so he wouldn’t have to take as many business trips.
He’s also been tackling his “bucket list” of lifetime ambitions, which last year included hiking across Spain and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with his son Matthew, 23.
“It looks like what you anticipate the moon would look like. It was amazing,” he said of the 19,341-foot peak in Tanzania.
This year, Leonard plans to take his family to India to meet the Dalai Lama, and also visit Australia and Antarctica.
“The main thing is, my children have a dad. My mom has a son. It’s a real celebration,” he said.
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Don Norton’s son will forever remind him that he nearly ended up in a watery grave.
The boy was born two years ago Wednesday, on the third anniversary of Norton’s rescue from Flight 1549 — and was given the name “Hudson.”
“He would not have been here if it ended in a different way,” Norton said.
“It’s interesting to look at him and think that.”
Norton, 40, of Dallas, said he was scared of flying “for a long time” after surviving the landing and broke out in hives the first time he took to the air again.
“It’s still not easy,” he said. “Taking off and landing is really hard.”
But he said the incident also taught him “not to sweat the small stuff,” and helped him cope with being laid off from his job recently.
“I think: What’s worse? Being unemployed or being dead?” he said.
“I’d rather be unemployed any day.”
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Before boarding Flight 1549, Clay Presley was afraid to fly — but now he owns his own plane.
Presley, 59, of Charlotte, NC, said “he was scared to death” when the Airbus landed in the Hudson River.
“It’s a feeling beyond fear,” he said.
But Presley decided to conquer that fear by getting a pilot’s license.
“I started thinking: Where did that fear come from?” he said. “A lot of that fear came from not understanding really what was going on in the whole process.
“I wanted to figure out one of the ways to help me overcome what was going on.”
And on Dec. 30, he said, he bought his own plane, a four-seat Cirrus SR-22 — which comes complete with a parachute for emergency landings.
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Matt Kane’s gratitude to the Flight 1549 crew turned him into a crusader against rude airline passengers.
Kane, 43, of Fairfield, Conn., said he routinely calls out fellow travelers for their bad behavior whenever he sees anyone mistreating a flight attendant.
“I protect them,” said Kane, who’s a frequent flier due to his sales job.
“It’s from the experience . . . When difficult times occur, they’ll be there to help you and know what the plan is.”
Kane also said surviving the emergency water landing has “given me more focus” and helped him “deal with people and situations.”
“I’m a lot stronger dad to my twin boy and girl . . . spending time with them, appreciating them,” he added.
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Tracy Wolsko says being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis was easier to swallow in the wake of the near tragedy.
Wolsko, 42, of Charlotte, NC, experienced mysterious symptoms after she and her husband survived Flight 1549 on their way home from a second-anniversary vacation.
“They were always explained away as either stress or vertigo after the crash,” she said.
“My doctor kept saying, ‘You were in a plane crash, of course you have muscle spasms.’ ”
After 18 months of evaluations and tests, however, Wolsko was diagnosed with MS.
“I think, in retrospect, the plane crash helped me prepare for the diagnosis,” she said.
“It helped me put a lot of things in my life into perspective, and what’s important.”