US Airways Crew saves 155 lives by landing in the Hudson River

Flight #flight1549 from La Guardia to Charlotte NC today landed in the Hudson River and all the passengers and crew were safely rescued. See Twitpic http://twitpic.com/135xa 

How Twitter and Flickr covered it http://cli.gs/65hetS

Some Flicker pictures http://cli.gs/UbQBnz

latimes http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/01/citizen-photo-o.html

Twitter eyewitness account http://twitter.com/jkrums

As I was flying from Las Vegas on Tuesday night I sat in the emergency exit and wondered about how I would operate the exit if needed. I am glad the flight 1549 episode had a happy text book ending. From the coverage on TV I see that the passengers behaved marvellously and helped each other. The crew stayed back inside the plane till all the passengers were out of the plane.

 

Capt Sullenberger http://www.kxii.com/home/headlines/37678624.html was a US Air force pilot who now flies for US airways and did a great job keeping the pane flat till it hit the water and keeping it afloat as long as possible. 3 cheers to the crew fir saving these lives.

 

The stock of US airways was up 7% before the news of the crash hit. Here are some things I am going to do:

 

a) Learn swimming

b) Pay attention when the crew demonstrate the life jackets

c) Always read the flight safety instructions

d) Smile and greet any pilot I meet and shake hands if protocol allows.

 

Advice to Pilot Sullenberger - dude you need to join SouthWest. You are a hero !