Fire, Ice, Horror and Heroes

Fire, Ice, Horror and Heroes
The "Miracle on the Hudson" unfolded just minutes after the US Airways took off from LaGuardia Airport en route to Charlotte, N.C.
Sullenberger was flying over congested Bronx neighborhoods when he realized he couldn't make it to nearby Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. On tapes released of the pilot's conversation with controllers, Sullenberger is heard to say simply, "unable," when directed to Teterboro.
Instead, he turned the jetliner south. Clearing the George Washington Bridge by about 900 feet, Sullenberger guided the gliding plane into a picture-perfect splashdown, keeping the craft afloat and both wings out of the water.
"That's a 10 on airmanship," said Capt. John Cox, a former US Airways pilot. "It requires everything for a pilot to do that."
Within minutes, ferries, tugs and emergency craft converged on the stricken jet and scooped up the shivering passengers.