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‘Miracle on the Hudson’: 10th anniversary of Flight 1549

January 15, 2019, 7:38 AM

In this Thursday Jan. 15, 2009 file photo, airline passengers wait to be rescued on the wings of a US Airways Airbus 320 jetliner that safely ditched in the frigid waters of the Hudson River in New York, after a flock of birds knocked out both its engines. The audio recordings of US Airways Flight 1549, released Thursday, Feb 5, 2009 by the Federal Aviation Administration, reflect the initial tension between tower controllers and the cockpit and then confusion about whether the passenger jet went into the river. (AP Photo/Steven Day) ** EDITORS NOTE RESTRICTIONS: TO USE THIS IMAGE IN AN EDITORIAL MAGAZINE, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR AP IMAGES LICENSING REPRESENTATIVE. SPECIAL RATES APPLY **

WASHINGTON — It’s been 10 years since US Airways Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson, with no deaths and only minor injuries.

Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger was honored as a national hero in the months that followed. On Tuesday, survivors will gather for a toast at the exact time of the crash.

In this Thursday Jan. 15, 2009 file photo, airline passengers wait to be rescued on the wings of a US Airways Airbus 320 jetliner that safely ditched in the frigid waters of the Hudson River in New York, after a flock of birds knocked out both its engines. The audio recordings of US Airways Flight 1549, released Thursday, Feb 5, 2009 by the Federal Aviation Administration, reflect the initial tension between tower controllers and the cockpit and then confusion about whether the passenger jet went into the river. (AP Photo/Steven Day) ** EDITORS NOTE RESTRICTIONS: TO USE THIS IMAGE IN AN EDITORIAL MAGAZINE, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR AP IMAGES LICENSING REPRESENTATIVE. SPECIAL RATES APPLY **
Flight 1549 took off from LaGuardia a decade ago Tuesday, with Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and his co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles at the controls, three flight attendants and 150 passengers aboard. Less than a minute later, plane and birds collided at 3,000 feet. Both engines stopped. Sullenberger took the controls and told air traffic controllers he couldn’t make it back to LaGuardia. His choices were a small airport for private aircraft in New Jersey — possibly too far — or the river. Sullenberger picked the water. (AP Photo/Steven Day)
AP Photo/Steven Day
FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2009 file photo, passengers in an inflatable raft move away from US Airways Flight 1549 that went down in the Hudson River in New York. The jet ditched in the Hudson River after both engines failed when they ingested birds shortly after takeoff. All 155 people on board were safe; Captain Chesley Sullenberger and other crew members were hailed as heroes. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
Airline passengers waited to be rescued on the wings of the Airbus 320 jetliner that safely ditched in the frigid waters of the Hudson River in New York, after a flock of birds knocked out both its engines. One flight attendant and four passengers were hurt, but everyone else was mostly fine. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File
Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III, who safely piloted U.S. Airways Flight 1549 with155 passengers and crew to a water landing 5 years ago, speaks during a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014 in New York. Sullenberger gathered with some survivors rescuers to mark the fifth anniversary of the event known as the "miracle on the Hudson." (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
The incident came to be known as the ‘Miracle on the Hudson,” and Sullenberger became a national hero. A federal transit official would later describe Flight 1549’s landing as “the most successful ditching in aviation history.” (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews
U.S. Airways flight 1549, an Airbus A320 that made an emergency landing Thursday in the Hudson River sits on a barge after being lifted out of the river in New York, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Ferry crews which had witnessed the landing rushed to the sinking plane’s aid and began taking people aboard. Most of the passengers were taken to the New Jersey side of the Hudson, where first responders were waiting. The submerged plane was later moved to a pier in Lower Manhattan. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
AP Photo/Kathy Willens
From the deck of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Hayward, the engine of US Airlines Flight 1549 that crash landed into the water on Jan. 15 can be seen as it is retrieved from the icy Hudson River in New York Friday, Jan. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
The NTSB found ample evidence of engine damage resulting from a soft-body collision. The left engine was sheered off the wing by the landing, and was recovered in the days that followed. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
AP Photo/Craig Ruttle
** ADVANCE FOR TUESDAY, MAY 26 AND THEREAFTER ** FILE - In this Jan. 23, 2009 file photo, the engine of US Airlines Flight 1549 that crash landed into the water on Jan. 15 can be seen resting on a barge after it was retrieved from the icy Hudson River in New York by salvage crews. About 700 yards from the end of a LaGuardia Airport runway, where thousands of planes take off and land, New York officials want to build what could be the equivalent of a bird magnet: A very large garbage transfer station. This, just five months after a run-in with birds sent a jet full of people into the Hudson River. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, FILE)
Flight safety officials later used flight simulations, cockpit voice recording, and air traffic control radio chatter to build a timeline leading up to Flight 1549’s landing. The incident triggered a revaluation of safety measures against bird strikes.  (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, FILE)
AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, FILE
US Airways jet, flight 1549, is trucked onto local streets after leaving J. Supor and Sons warehouse in Harrison, N.J. Saturday, June 4, 2011. The plane that splash-landed in the Hudson River in 2009, making a national hero of pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, is being moved to an aviation museum in North Carolina, where it will be put on permanent display. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
In 2011, Flight 1549 was trucked Charlotte, North Carolina, where it was put on permanent display at the Carolinas Aviation Museum — where survivors are planning to gather Tuesday to mark the 10-year anniversary, including a toast at the exact time of the crash. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
AP Photo/Bill Kostroun
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In this Thursday Jan. 15, 2009 file photo, airline passengers wait to be rescued on the wings of a US Airways Airbus 320 jetliner that safely ditched in the frigid waters of the Hudson River in New York, after a flock of birds knocked out both its engines. The audio recordings of US Airways Flight 1549, released Thursday, Feb 5, 2009 by the Federal Aviation Administration, reflect the initial tension between tower controllers and the cockpit and then confusion about whether the passenger jet went into the river. (AP Photo/Steven Day) ** EDITORS NOTE RESTRICTIONS: TO USE THIS IMAGE IN AN EDITORIAL MAGAZINE, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR AP IMAGES LICENSING REPRESENTATIVE. SPECIAL RATES APPLY **
FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2009 file photo, passengers in an inflatable raft move away from US Airways Flight 1549 that went down in the Hudson River in New York. The jet ditched in the Hudson River after both engines failed when they ingested birds shortly after takeoff. All 155 people on board were safe; Captain Chesley Sullenberger and other crew members were hailed as heroes. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III, who safely piloted U.S. Airways Flight 1549 with155 passengers and crew to a water landing 5 years ago, speaks during a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014 in New York. Sullenberger gathered with some survivors rescuers to mark the fifth anniversary of the event known as the "miracle on the Hudson." (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
U.S. Airways flight 1549, an Airbus A320 that made an emergency landing Thursday in the Hudson River sits on a barge after being lifted out of the river in New York, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
From the deck of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Hayward, the engine of US Airlines Flight 1549 that crash landed into the water on Jan. 15 can be seen as it is retrieved from the icy Hudson River in New York Friday, Jan. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
** ADVANCE FOR TUESDAY, MAY 26 AND THEREAFTER ** FILE - In this Jan. 23, 2009 file photo, the engine of US Airlines Flight 1549 that crash landed into the water on Jan. 15 can be seen resting on a barge after it was retrieved from the icy Hudson River in New York by salvage crews. About 700 yards from the end of a LaGuardia Airport runway, where thousands of planes take off and land, New York officials want to build what could be the equivalent of a bird magnet: A very large garbage transfer station. This, just five months after a run-in with birds sent a jet full of people into the Hudson River. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, FILE)
US Airways jet, flight 1549, is trucked onto local streets after leaving J. Supor and Sons warehouse in Harrison, N.J. Saturday, June 4, 2011. The plane that splash-landed in the Hudson River in 2009, making a national hero of pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, is being moved to an aviation museum in North Carolina, where it will be put on permanent display. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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