Today marks the 11th anniversary of the “Miracle on the Hudson,” when tragedy was averted by a cool-headed and courageous pilot Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger just minutes after his Charlotte-bound plane took off from New York.
On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 took off from LaGuardia Airport with 150 passengers and five crew members on board. The Airbus A320 soon hit a flock of migrating Canada geese and both engines shut down.
Capt. Sullenberger and his co-pilot Jeff Skiles were able to successfully glide the plane to rest on the surface of the Hudson River at 3:31 .m. Everyone on board survived with no serious injuries.
Captain Sully has since retired and lives a quiet life (despite having a major motion picture made in his honor) in San Francisco with his wife, Lorrie.
Cool factoid: More than 50 children and grandchildren have been added to the passengers’ families since they survived that day in 2009.
