Bekijk volle/desktop versie : The all American hero



17-01-2009, 01:18
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The pilot aboard U.S. Airways Flight 1549 came over the speaker system and told passengers "brace for impact." One passenger turned on his cell phone so his body could be found with its GPS tracking. Others reflected on their lives.
Each of them lauded the heroics of the pilot, Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III.

Here are survivor accounts in their own words: Watch message to pilot: "I'll buy you a beer" »

Vince Spera
"He's the man! He's absolutely the man. ... If you want to talk to a hero, get ahold of him because that is the hero in this whole deal."

Spera descibed "the moment of impact": "Have you ever been in a speedboat and hit some wake? That's what it felt like, when you go over the wake and you hit the water again. ... It wasn't that bad of an impact, which was strange. And then after that, there wasn't a lot of yelling and screaming. It was fairly orderly getting off the plane."

Andrew Jamison
"God was certainly looking out for all of us." Watch one decribe how "the engine blew" »

Brad Wentzell
Wentzell cried when talking about returning home to snuggle with his young daughter. "When I get home, I am going to take my nose and put it by her ear, her little warm body and give her a nice kiss from Daddy. I'm alive. That's it. I don't have much else to say."

Don't Miss
Investigators to quiz pilot who landed plane in Hudson
Jet crash-lands into Hudson River; all aboard safe
Pilot praised for 'masterful' landing
"We have a second chance in life." See photos of the "Miracle on the Hudson" »

Carl Bazariane
"We were all looking to see how we were gonna die. It was really strange."

On the crash landing, he said, "Usually in moments like that, you would expect chaos. It got really quiet and nobody said a word. There was a child crying. That was about it. That was understandable."

Joe Hart
He said passengers didn't panic on the plane. It was only after the crash when things got chaotic, he said. "It's when we got outside and in the cold water. And I mean the water was cold. Within seconds, my legs were numb, standing in the cold water." See a map of where the plane went down »

"We're just happy to be around. We're just happy to be around."

Jeff Kolodjay
"The plane started filling with water pretty quick. ... It was scary. There was a lady with her baby on my left-hand shoulder, and she was crawling over the seats."

Alberto Panero
On the "brace for impact" moment: "That's the only thing that was said. I guess that's probably a better thing so that people didn't panic. But at the time, he said it so calmly. From that point until we hit the water, it was pretty quick."

He said he turned on his cell phone before impact so that his body could be found via GPS.


Panero added, "We just hit, and somehow the plane stayed afloat, and we were able to get on the raft. It's just incredible right now that everybody's still alive."

Fred Berretta
"I think a lot of people started praying and just collecting themselves," Berretta said. "It was quite stunning." He said he was expecting the plane to flip over and break apart, but it didn't. "It was a great landing," he said.


bron: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/01/16/passenger.accounts/index.html

17-01-2009, 01:24


Indonesia ferry disaster


JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Search crews have rescued nine more passengers who survived a ferry capsizing off the coast of Indonesia, though more than 230 people are still missing.

The nine survivors were rescued by a navy ship Monday afternoon, bringing the total number of survivors from Sunday's accident to 30, said Col. Jaka Santosa, chief of search and rescue operations for the Indonesian navy. One body was also recovered Monday.

The search and rescue operations continued Tuesday, with five navy ships joining the effort.

The ferry was carrying 267 people.

Rescue efforts have been hampered by severe weather, including heavy rains and strong winds, according to local officials.

The Teratai Prima ferry left Pare Pare on Sulawesi island in central Indonesia on Saturday evening for Samarinda, East Kalimantan. The ferry overturned about 4 a.m. Sunday off the coast of Majena in west Sulawesi after being pummeled with waves as high as 19 feet, survivors said.