The Saga of the Crew of Flight 1549 Continues

March 6, 2009 at 12:56 PM | by JetSetCD | 1 Comment

There are no losers in the story of US Airways Flight 1549, except for maybe AIG, who was the insurer of the plane. We all know of Captain "Sully" Sullenberger's honors and invites, and even his recent traitor turn to flying Virgin America, but on Wednesday at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, the stream of awards flowed on to his co-pilot, Jeffrey Skiles, the LaGuardia air traffic controllers who handled the situation, and the rest of the flight crew.

At the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Skiles accepted awards for himself and Sully, and for Donna Dent, Doreen Welsh and Sheila Dail--the flight attendants who kept their cool during the ordeal. It was the account of chief LaGuardia air traffic controller Bill McLoughlin, however, which really brought on the waterworks and gave us another angle for marveling at the series of events:

'We spotted him out of the window,' McLoughlin said. 'Three hundred [feet] was when we lost complete radar contact.' That's when thoughts of scores of people dying in the freezing river water filled his mind, McLoughlin said. 'I've seen aircraft ditched and they usually break open,' he said. 'I was thinking there were people dying from hypothermia.' Another controller requested that a nearby helicopter watch for Flight 1549 and report back, and that was how controllers learned the jet was in the Hudson near The Intrepid.

With Skiles due to report back for duty by the end of this month and with his hero status solidified, we're totally expecting some very excited flyers to twitter spotting him in the airport or even as co-pilot on their flight. A fact which, considering how the first image of the crash appeared via twitpic, would bring the entire event full circle.

[Photo: LA Times]

Related Stories
· LI Controllers honored for work in Hudson River crash [Newsday]
· Flight 1549 co-pilot, crew honored at the Rio [KVBC Las Vegas]
· Capt. Sully Gets Keys to His City; Passengers Still Waiting on Luggage [Jaunted]
· Flight 1549 Coverage [Jaunted]

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