IN MY SHOES: What It Was Like To Be A Passenger On US Airways Flight 1549
Here are highlights from a Q&A that The American Lawyer did with corporate lawyer James Hanks Jr., 65, who was one of 155 people on board US Airways Flight 1549:
TAL:When did you realize on that flight that things had gone horribly wrong?
Hanks: About 90 seconds after takeoff there was this kind of small explosion or loud crack or snap - it seemed like a single sound - and then some smoke began to come into the aircraft. …
TAL: What was the "landing" like?
Hanks: We hit with just a tremendous crash and impact and I could hear this roar. Stuff was flying all around, but it felt like we just hit and stopped. …
Hanks: [I]t wasn't pandemonium in a pejorative sense. It just wasn't orderly, which you wouldn't expect it to be [in that situation]. People were focused on getting up that aisle to the front exits. But there weren't any guys shoving women aside to get out. …
TAL: How long did it take before the water started coming in?
Hanks: It was immediate. When I got out of my seat, the water was already at my waist. By the time I went to the [emergency exit] in the back and saw I wasn't going to get out the door, just in those seconds the water had already risen to my neck. …
When I turned back and started up the front aisle a remarkable thing happened. … As I and others moved forward, the water level surrounding us went down. … Then I saw these two forward door openings and my eyes were drawn to the one on the right, where the sun was streaming through. And by the time I got there, there was no more water. …
Editorial Note: Capt. Chesley (“Sully”) Sullenberger was the toast of Danville, CA, on Saturday, “greeted by a marching band, a pilot performed a fly-by over the proceedings and he was named an honorary police officer by the Danville police chief and handed badge Number 1,” reports the New York Daily News. Roughly 2,000 of the town’s 42,000 residents turned out to cheer their hometown hero. Unruffled and humble as ever, he told the crowd: “Circumstance determined that it was this experienced crew that was scheduled to fly that particular flight on that particular day. And I know I can speak for the entire crew when I tell you we were simply doing the jobs we were trained to do." His wife, Lorrie, said she married him because he was “the most honorable man I knew,” adding this heartwarming detail about their marriage: “he's the man that makes my cup of tea every morning.”
Because Sully did not lose a single passenger or crew member, Hanks told The American Lawyer that “I can take a lot of joy and gratitude undiminished by the fact that anyone else died.” This just could be the one catastrophic event that doesn’t lead to survivor syndrome.
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