Rescue crews yesterday afternoon plucked 155 passengers and crew members from a US Airways jetliner mere minutes after the plane pancaked into the Hudson River.
A miracle?
So it would seem – but that’s not quite the case.
Rather, some masterful plane-handling by the US Airways pilot – in combination with a highly professional collaboration of NYPD, FDNY, Port Authority and Coast Guard personnel, with timely assistance from New York Waterway and Circle Line ferry crews – made all the difference.
New Yorkers expect the best from their uniformed services, and for the best of reasons: They always get it.
This time, well-practiced professionalism prevented what might well have been a major tragedy.
That, and the remarkable landing itself: The US Airways plane had just taken off from La Guardia Airport when a flock of birds reportedly knocked out both engines.
Yet pilot Chesley Sullenberger – an Air Force Academy graduate and former fighter-bomber pilot – incredibly managed to set the aircraft down on an even keel, and in one piece.
“It would appear that the pilot did a master job of landing the plane in the river, and then making sure everybody got out,” Mayor Bloomberg said last night.
It sure would.
Despite the fortunate rescue, of course, the crash is a timely reminder that, as safe as air travel has become, it’s always a good idea for passengers to pay attention to their flight’s emergency evacuation plans.
But for now, New Yorkers can simply be grateful for a tragedy averted – and for a pilot and rescue personnel whose expert response saved lives.