Miracle On The Hudson Was A Death Sentence

WASHINGTON (AP) - The air traffic controller who handled US
Airways Flight 1549 says he thought he was hearing a death sentence
when the pilot said he was ditching in New York's Hudson River.
Controller Patrick Harten says, "I believed at that moment I
was going to be the last person to talk to anyone on that plane
alive." The 10-year veteran controller publicly described his
reactions to last month's miracle landing in the Hudson for the
first time Tuesday before the House aviation subcommittee.
Harten said: "People don't survive landings on the Hudson
River. I thought it was his own death sentence."
But pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger glided the Airbus A320
into the river after it collided with birds and lost power in both
engines. All 155 people aboard survived.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)