Miracle on the Hudson
It started out as a day/no different from any other day/for the crew and passengers/aboard US Airways Flight 1549.// One hundred seconds later,/it became a day they would never forget.//

　　On Thursday,/January 15, 2009,/Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger/and his first officer,/Jeff Skiles,/arrived at LaGuardia Airport in New York City/to prepare for a flight from New York City to Charlotte,/North Carolina.//
　　At 3:25 p.m.,/Sully and Skiles were ready,/and the LaGuardia tower cleared their flight for takeoff.// The flight was identified/as radio call sign Cactus 1549/by the air traffic controllers.//
　　For Sully,/it was like nearly every other flight he’d made for 42 years.// Cactus 1549 was completely routine/… for the first 100 seconds.//
　　During those seconds,/Cactus 1549 continued climbing/and Skiles,/who was at the controls,/asked for the after-takeoff checklist,/a task pilots must perform/at that stage of a flight.//
　　And then,/all hell broke loose.//
　　“I saw the birds/three seconds before we hit them;/we were traveling 316 feet a second/and could not avoid them,”/Sully later recalled.//


　　They could feel and hear/the thumps and thuds/as they struck the birds,/followed by a shuddering,/and then a rumbling sound coming from the engines.// They felt the engines “rolling back,”/meaning failing.//
　　“We got one roll/… both of them rolling back!”// Sully said/as his engines made a strange noise/that he had never heard before.//
　　“This can’t be happening,”/he thought.// And the next moment,/“This doesn’t happen to me.”//
　　Sully finally saw/that his flight would probably not end safely on a runway.// And so,/within two-and-a-half-seconds of Flight 1549 hitting the birds,/he began to take action.//
　　He turned on the engine ignition so that,/if the engines could recover,/they would.// He also started the aircraft’s auxiliary power unit/(APU)/to provide backup electrical power.// After turning on the APU,/Sully took control of the aircraft.//
　　In the next few seconds,/Sully and his first officer/desperately tried to figure out/the best course of action.// Sully later recalled,/“Even though Jeff and I had just met for the first time/three days before,/if you had watched us work together,/you would have thought/we had been working together for years.// We were able to work smoothly in an emergency/when there was not enough time/to talk about what had just happened.”//
　　Sully was aware/that every decision he made/would be examined carefully later.// But that did not stop him/from making hard choices and sticking with them.//


　　Around 20 seconds/after losing power in both engines,/Sully sent out a call for help:/“Mayday!// Mayday!// Mayday!// This is Cactus fifteen thirty-nine.// Hit birds.// We’ve lost thrust on both engines.// We’re turning back toward LaGuardia.”//
　　The air traffic controller/immediately began to try to get them back/to a runway at LaGuardia.//
　　However,/by then,/Sully had realized/what his ultimate fate was going to be.// “We may end up in the Hudson,”/he told the controller.//
　　At 3:29 p.m./—two minutes and 18 seconds/after the bird strike—/Sully repeated/what he had said earlier.// “We’re going to be in the Hudson.”// Only this time,/he was sure.//
　　He realized/the only place/in the entire city of New York/that was long enough,/wide enough,/and smooth enough/to even attempt landing a jet/was the Hudson River.// Before landing in the river,/he would have to first avoid tall buildings/and crowded neighborhoods.//
　　Sully was attempting something he had never done/or even practiced before.// “This was a completely novel event/that I had never trained for.// Yet/I was able to set clear priorities.// I took what I did know/and applied it in a new way/to solve a problem I’d never seen before,”/he recalled.//
　　Sully made his decision:/he would have to sacrifice the airplane/to save lives.//


　　He made his one and only announcement/to the passengers and crew.// He just had a few seconds,/but he wanted to sound in control.// He knew/that one person’s confidence/can give other people courage.//
　　“This is the Captain.// Brace for impact,”/Sully told the crew and passengers.// Immediately,/the three flight attendants/started shouting their commands to the passengers/in unison:/“Brace, brace, brace!// Heads down!// Stay down!”//
　　Sully began to carefully guide his plane/for a landing on the river.// When they were at 3,020 feet,/he banked left/and pointed the plane/down toward the river.// Soon,/it was lower/than many of the high-rise buildings.// As people watched from windows/on both sides of the river,/Sully steadied the airplane/and prepared for a water landing.// Skiles began calling out/the plane’s speed and altitude/to help Sully judge the height/at which to begin the landing.//
　　Shortly after 3:30 p.m./—just five and a half minutes after takeoff,/less than three and a half minutes/since the thrust loss—/Cactus 1549 touched down on the Hudson,/sending up a huge spray of water.//



　　Sully could tell the plane was intact.// He and Skiles looked at one another and said,/almost at the same moment,/“That wasn’t as bad as I thought!”//
　　The plane did not sink immediately.// Instead,/it drifted in strong currents.// Frightened passengers began climbing out the exits/into freezing cold air/and onto the wings of the plane,/which began taking on water.// When everyone was safely out,/Sully walked up and down the aisle twice/to make sure that no one was left behind.// He was the last to leave the plane.//
　　Within four minutes,/the first rescue boats arrived.// Both pilots,/the three flight attendants,/and all the passengers,/including a baby,/were picked up by ferries and other rescue boats/as Cactus 1549 continued to drift south.// Everyone reached shore safely.//
　　Sully had lived to tell a tale/that was almost a miracle.// But his job wasn’t over.//
　　On the ferry,/once he realized that his phone was still dry enough,/he called US Airways/to tell them what had happened.//
　　He got in touch with the airline operations manager.// That person,/however,/cut him off,/saying he could not talk/since they had a plane down in the Hudson.//
　　“I know,”/Sully said.// “I’m the guy.”//