in June of 2011 those on route from New
Jersey to Charlotte may have seen a
rather unusual sight the main body of a
plane specifically of an Airbus a320 214
being hauled along the interstate by a
truck that same company also towed the
planes wings and its back-end on the
eight day journey across several states
the size of their load forced them at
times to get special permits and take
down city street lights you might wonder
why they did all this as well as ship
the plane's engines down later in six
large crates you'll soon find out in
this episode of the infographics show
the Miracle on the Hudson US Airways
flight 1549 cleared the runway of
LaGuardia Airport at 324 p.m. on January
15 2009 holding 150 passengers and five
crew in command was pilot captain
Chelsea Sullenberger best known as Sully
and alongside him sat Jeff Skiles his
copilot who had just completed his
training on the aircraft they flew
transcripts of their conversation in the
cockpit in the minutes that followed
revealed rather mundane conversation
including Sully admiring the beautiful
scenery though it was a chilly 20
degrees fahrenheit there was something
magical about the Hudson River
shimmering waters down below but despite
appearances the flight would soon take a
disastrous turn the 150,000 pound
Airbus reached an altitude of 700 feet
at 230 miles per hour and at 326 Sully
contacted air traffic control for
clearance to ascent further a minute
after that it was at 3,000 feet and
flying above the Bronx at 250 miles per
hour when suddenly a flock of Canadian
geese flying only 50 miles per hour
appeared out of seemingly nowhere seeing
the geese Sully screamed
not long after Skiles cursed those in
the plane would describe the sounds of
the four eight pound birds sucked into
the cfm56 five feet engines as similar
to shoes in the dryer from the windows
of the cabin passengers could see the
engines burst into flames then
as their heat cooked the birds and
liquefied remains or snart the cabin
filled with the smell of burning flesh
the left engine failed first followed by
the one on the right almost immediately
the plane became deafeningly and
terrifyingly silent in horror passengers
screamed while others son and many began
to pray though they still moved they
started to glide as they now had no
thrust or forward propelling power
experts later claimed that chances were
just one in a billion at that point that
all aboard wouldn't die
fortunately Sully with close to 20,000
hours of commercial airline pilot
experience remained calm and considered
the one in that statistic of possibility
he had 208 seconds to work with or less
than four minutes to decide the best
thing to do in all his pilot training
this was a scenario he had never had the
opportunity to practice so he was
completely on his own in uncharted
territory still he kept a level head and
weighed his best options for landing
that could save everyone on board he
first considered returning to LaGuardia
before realizing they wouldn't make it
without thrust in declining altitude he
then briefly suggested the option of a
runway at Teterboro however even that
was ultimately too far when told that
runway 1 at Teterboro had been cleared
he said that they couldn't do it it was
just minutes after takeoff when Sully
grabbed the intercom and the first and
only time he spoke to his terrified
passengers his message was all of three
words brace for impact
seconds later he told air traffic
control they weren't in a try for runway
but would be in the Hudson instead in
shock the control asked if he could
repeat his message again as the warning
systems repeatedly urged the captain in
his copilot to pull up and that they
were too low and the terrain was too
near they ignored them as they prepared
to land on their only viable option the
river it would be only the fourth time
ever that a commercial flight made an
emergency landing on the water the men
in the cockpit guided the plane toward
the Hudson however to make it they would
first have to successfully navigate the
George Washington Bridge the plane ended
up successfully clearing this obstacle
with the cushion of 900 feet as well as
navigating past parts of heavily
populated upper Manhattan
alarmed residents
in shock and amazement as it passed
uncomfortably close to them in their
high-rise apartments then both men in
the cockpit braced as the plane glided
without power toward the water at 150
miles per hour those observing would
describe it as continuing without
noticeably slowing down as it hit the
waves full force then abruptly stopped
flight 1549 landed on the Hudson River
with his nose pointed up at 3:30 2:00 in
the afternoon
just over five minutes after it had
originally taken off it was likely the
longest few minutes of the passengers
and crews lives fortunately while its
lower half was submerged and it slowly
began to leak water it still remained
afloat
the crew worked to guide all passengers
through the emergency exits to stand
outside in a huddle on both of its wings
remarkably no one panic and all work
together to evacuate a passenger in a
wheelchair and to hand out vests to
those outside while some inadvertently
slipped into the waves others worried
that the aircraft could explode jumped
in the water and swam off to a safer
distance before exiting himself captain
Sullenberger made sure to walk through
the entire plane two times to ensure no
one had been left behind it was only
three minutes after the plane hit the
water that the first rescue ferry
arrived as it and additional boats and
ferries began to approach many of the
passengers lining the wings or treading
water uncontrollably shivered in the
current conditions many were getting
extremely cold quite quickly as it was
everyone was rescued in record time
the New York Police Commissioner claimed
that all were in a boat in the span of
five minutes following their wand
remarkably not a single person died this
was due to the pilot skill mixed in with
a little bit of luck mini fairies at
3:30 were preparing for the busiest time
of the day and were ready and available
to assist with the rescue that said the
water was still vacant enough that no
ferries tankers or barges were floating
in the way as the plane tried to land
typically one of the most crowded
waterways in the world the Hudson having
areas completely free of obstacles was
very strange then despite one passenger
admitting he didn't even fasten the seat
belt
only a handful ended up seriously hurt
more were treated for minor injuries or
hypothermia the mayor of New York
quickly came forward to share that Sully
did a wonderful job it was an
undertaking of the highest precision and
some claimed that three feet one way or
the other could have resulted in a much
different ending however just because
the plane had landed did not mean that
the ordeal had completely ended the
National Transportation Safety Board
still had to conduct its incident
investigation this included in-depth
analysis of the plane and the captain's
decision-making as well as the captain
and his copilot submitting to drug and
alcohol testing ultimately an aircraft
accident report was released which
included nearly 200 pages of facts
analysis and conclusions with supporting
charts and figures it took a year and a
half to complete but in the end they
sided with Sully and supported his
actions unfortunately many alleged that
the way this process was depicted in
Clint Eastwood's famous movie about the
Hudson based event dubbed Sully was both
unfair as well as inaccurate government
representatives who were involved didn't
appreciate Hollywood's implication that
they played the role of prosecution
rather than that of an objective
investigator as the leader of the
process put it they weren't the Gestapo
or the KGB but the good guys trying to
understand what happened and limit the
odds of it happening again they did ask
questions many personal and at times
uncomfortable during their 18-month long
investigation but that's just a fully
understand what happened why and when as
a consequence the real-life Sullenberger
portrayed in the movie by Tom Hanks
requested that the real name
of investigators in the movie be changed
he claims that their job was an
important one in Eastwood's portrayal of
how they acted was less than fair
unfortunately it may have been damaging
as well as it showed the government
working against the best interests of
the pilots and their passengers instead
of width and for them Sully on the other
hand was played well and accurately he
truly was the silent yet brilliant pilot
tom hanks portrayed and at first sully
who preferred to keep to himself was
quite overwhelmed with his overnight
fame but in time he saw it as less of a
burden and instead as an opportunity to
educate others and bring attention to
aviation safety he has continued to make
a positive difference as there's room
for improvement in many areas further
there's always the possibility that
birds will once again hit another plane
believe it or not birds often cause
problems for planes before the unplanned
2009 Hudson landing and still continue
to pose a potential threat long after
between 1990 and 2016 bird strikes went
up from 1850 to 13,000 408 in the United
States and from 2008 to 2015
total international incidents were close
to ninety eight thousand subsequent
damage amounts to 1 billion dollars each
year flights have been diverted in
windshields cracked
due to various chance encounters and
even Air Force two was hit on its right
side by a bird while Vice President Joe
Biden was traveling on it in 2012
The Miracle on the Hudson has since
inspired the National Transportation
Safety Board to warn airports to take
whatever measures necessary to limit
plane interaction with wildlife
particularly but not exclusively with
those that fly they have approached this
problem in different ways to limit the
presence of birds they've taken away
their sources of water shelter and food
unfortunately at times more drastic
measures are required and LaGuardia and
JFK airports often round up and gassed
their geese new technology is also in
the works that's meant to detect bird
presence with the use of radar this is
somewhat challenging however due to
their small size
unfortunately thus far screens on jet
engines blocking birds from entry have
also proven impractical and impair
engine function the good news is that
now thanks to the Hudson Incident bird
strike preparation is included in most
airline trainings if a similar incident
were to
and again it's still highly unlikely
that we'll have as happy and ending this
is why US Airways flight 1549 a part of
a miracle as well as aviation history
needed preserving and while hiring
multiple flatbed trucks to do the
hauling over state lines
was more than worth it after it's over a
week long journey to Charlotte the plane
was reassembled this required the
efforts of American airline volunteers
in addition to Airbus Hunter wrecker
Freeman Ryan design and disaster one
representatives the UNC Charlotte
engineering students did their part as
well by designing a stand to hold it in
place with its tail almost in contact
with the ceiling it's a monstrous
presence in the room of the Aviation
Museum in which it's displayed it's a
reminder that in the face of impending
disaster we should still strive to do
our best and we might just pull off the
seemingly impossible what's the scariest
thing that's ever happened to you on a
plane and do you still enjoy flying let
us know in the comments also be sure to
check out our other video called a
crocodile with a kill count of over 300
thanks for watching and as always don't
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