A miracle on the cold river...

This afternoon we got the news in the office that a plane had crashed just a few minutes ago in the Hudson river around 50th Street...close to the office and not far from my apartment buiding!
Immediately we started looking at the websites of the New York Times, MSNBC and CNN. And indeed, there it was on their pages: BREAKING NEWS: US AIRWAYS PLANE CRASHED IN HUDSON RIVER. The first pictures showed a floating plane in the middle of the river, surrounded by rescue boats and ferries that were there to take the passengers from the plane!

Unbelieve, some fear and curiosity were my first reactions, how did this happen and how fortunate this plane didn't crash into a building...and were the passengers surviving getting out of the plane in one of the coldest days of this winter season? It reminded everybody of 9-11 of course, but this seemed less harmfull as we saw the passengers getting out of the plane and onto the life rafts, the plane still intact. All broadcasted live on TV and internet, accompanied with a lot of excitement, I am in the US...

This picture shows how the situation was pretty soon after the plane made its emergency landing on the river. The passengers coming out and standing on the wings to be rescued.
Eventually all were saved and few were injured, at the end of the day the pilot is a heroe as he managed to get the plane landed onto the river with two (!) damaged engines, after it struck a flock of birds. He did a hell of a job! New York is relieved after this "miracle", and so am I.
And the plane? Still floating in the river along Battery Park City...

The full story on MSNBC