Miracle On The Hudson

Here's not a sight you see everyday. Wow. These passengers look like they're walking on water!



This unbelievable sight of a downed US Airways' A-320 Airbus was shot by an AP photographer somewhere between the 50s and 40s of the Upper West Side of Manhattan, inside the drink that is the Hudson River.

It was en route to Charlotte, N.C. when apparently it hit a flock of Canadian geese, making their usual migration southwards for this time of year. Planes hitting birds is not usual, but neither is it that unusual either. The blades are meant to "absorb" such a strike.

What makes this scene absolutely impossible, is that both engines suffered from the impact, and of course, that the plane survived by crash landing unto the super icy Hudson River.

ALL PASSENGERS ON BOARD are apparently saved. Amazing. Full credit to those pilots who executed this tricky water landing, to put it mildly.

I am watching NBC News, with Brian Williams explaining to the viewers where the phrase "balls to the walls" came from. You'll be glad to know it's not as coarse as it sounds, but has to do with pilot manoeuvering inside the cockpit.

Who knew, eh?

Seriously, though, it's impossible to fathom the series of 'lucky' breaks that this plane had to go through, even in high drama: the talented pilots, sharp crew, and the immediacy of their surroundings.

Just recently, a ferry went down in the waters of Indonesia, with catastrophic results. JFK Jr's plane hit the water in what must've resembled this crash, almost too eerily (had there been witnesses). And lastly, the memories of a plane in distress in New York City are still too potent for all of us. All due to the vagaries of fate.

It's a great day to be alive.