(QUEEN CITY NEWS) — It’s one of the most iconic survival stories in aviation history: A passenger jet’s successful ditching in New York’s Hudson River. All 155 passengers and crewmembers survived in one of the most feel-good stories of all time.
It was 16 years ago today, on January 15, when US Airways 1549 hit a flock of birds, lost all engine power, and glided into the river.
The jet had just departed New York’s LaGuardia Airport headed for Charlotte but ended up ditching in the icy Hudson instead. Eventually, it was recovered from the river, and then transported to Charlotte where it would find a new home at the Sullenberger Aviation Museum.
So, we know what happened to the jet, but what about the passengers?
Many of them were from Charlotte, on a one-day business trip to New York and back. Twenty-one of them worked for Bank of America. Like Pam Seagle and Brian Siegal. Their names sound the same but are spelled differently.
Their only other link was being on US Airways flight 1549. They sat down with Chief Transportation Correspondent and Pilot Maycay Beeler for a look back.
