'Miracle on the Hudson'
There are no atheists in foxholes.
And there aren’t many aboard planes that are about to crash either.
Here’s how Jeff Kolodjay of Norwalk, Conn., said he and fellow passengers aboard U.S. Airways Flight 1549 prepared for the worst as their plane plunged toward the Hudson River after its engines apparently failed shortly after takeoff from New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
“The captain came on and said ‘we are going down, brace for impact’ and everyone looked at each other, we began to pray,” Kolodjay said, CNN reported. “I said about five Our Fathers, five Hail Marys and we hit the water.”
In what was described by New York Gov. David Paterson as a “miracle,” all 155 people aboard escaped alive from the crash due to the skill of pilot Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger, who brought the plane down safely into the icy river.
“There is a heroic pilot,” Paterson said. “We have had a miracle on 34th Street; I believe we now have a miracle on the Hudson.”
— Tom McFeely
