NY Waterways Rocks Rescue Hudson River Plane Ditching

**EbbTide** · January 15th, 2009, 01:33 PM

Great job by NY Waterways responding to US Air plane ditching on Hudson River! Great Job Guys & Gals. Also props to USCG and NYPD Marine Unit. You can't hide talent.

**Shawn** · January 15th, 2009, 01:44 PM

Wow didn't hear about this till you just posted! Thats amazing no one was killed.

Heres the story: http://www.klewtv.com/news/national/37658674.html

**EbbTide** · January 15th, 2009, 01:53 PM

oOOP's forgot to credit my friends in the NYFD Marine Unit. The Bravest!

**captjacksparrow** · January 15th, 2009, 02:30 PM

With all due respect for the various rescuers, how about some credit for the flight crew that managed to keep control of and safely ditch a large jet into a river with both engines taken out by birds?

**EbbTide** · January 15th, 2009, 03:17 PM

You're right Jack, the pilots did a fantastic job. But Jack, this is a site for mariners, and I'm excited about the terrific response by NY Waterways captains and deckhands in freezing conditions, on the fast moving Hudson River. These folks deserve a big thank you for a job well done!
Also our friends in the NYPD Marine & NYFD Marine who are always first class in excellence.
Maybe Jack, you should visit a FAA or Fey site, cause you missed the boat to celebrate fellow mariners on this great day of te Miracle on the Hudson.

**john** · January 15th, 2009, 03:55 PM

Originally Posted by EbbTide

oOOP's forgot to credit my friends in the NYFD Marine Unit. The Bravest!

I was about to say!

Not that I have any bias in the FDNY vs NYPD rescue services feud

**captjacksparrow** · January 15th, 2009, 08:07 PM

Sorry if anyone took that the wrong way. It was not meant to ignore or demean the actions of the responding mariners and rescue personnel in any way. Their actions were exemplary and worthy of praise.

But I always admire and try to recognize great skill demonstrated under heavy pressure, and I felt that a display of exceptional flying like that deserved at least a brief mention. There's no comparison between the degree of difficulty of what those pilots did and a calm-water rescue, even in the cold. The fact remains that without their superb flying all you've got is one big body search after that plane cartwheels or comes apart on impact. The fact that everyone survived this one with nothing worse than mild hypothermia is positively astonishing.

Much as with what we mariners sometimes do, maybe non-aviators just aren't capable of adequately understanding or appreciating it.....

**RetiredDomer76** · January 16th, 2009, 09:35 AM

Definitely, this is not a forum to post sibling rivalry between air and water borne transportation professionals. Everyone who had to, reacted swiftly and correctly to contribute to such an outstanding end result. Starting with the plane's captain who chose between crash-landing on the river and possibly/probably loosing 150 lives or crashing into a densely populated metropolitan area where the fatality count could/would have been many multiple times higher; also the air traffic controller who directed the distressed aircraft towards Teterboro airport (and therefore the Hudson River). Considering the air and water temperatures, had the maritime community's response NOT been immediate and swift there most definitely would have been significant fatalities due to hypothermia within 30 minutes.
This includes, ferries enroute, ferries already standing by pierside awaiting the Friday rush hour, emergency response duty personnel who commandeered a CircleLiner and swiftly arrived on scene to coordinate the rescue efforts, NYPD, FDNY and USCG personnel and marine assests, and even several people in private boats. Who is to say any one individual's acts are more heroic than anyone else's? Unfortunately, the national news media has given very little coverage/credit to the maritime community in general. And that IS a shame.
However, when all is said and done, even though The US Maritime industry never got anything close to the financial bailouts we hear about today, our level of professionalism and emergency response training, as demonstrated yesterday afternoon, shows that we are still the world's standard. And I for one am extremely proud of the men and women mariners who were involved in this rescue operation.

**Retired Rat** · January 16th, 2009, 09:51 AM

Whoever was at the wheel on that FDNY boat was excellent. That isn't the most nimble vessel around, and it was handled wonderful. Anyone see the larry King interview with the ferry captain? She looked about 27 years old! Good on her too!

**Robert** · January 16th, 2009, 10:11 AM

Everyone involved, including the passengers, did an amazing job.

**captjacksparrow** · January 16th, 2009, 01:18 PM

According to this news article the ferry captain was, in fact, a very composed young woman named Brittany Catanzaro who was just 20 years old and had only recently started on the job. Quite a debut.....

There was also a brief mention of the use, on the ferry she ran, of the Jasons Cradle which was an instrumental tool used in getting the plane's passengers aboard in a safe and timely manner when time was the most critical factor. I hope that very important fact is widely understood by mariners and the marine industry as a whole, and that it receives more coverage and consideration within the maritime media so that more vessels will become equipped with them as a result. Tugs, towboats and OSV's, especially, often have no decent and rapid way to recover a MOB without unduly hazarding the rescuers. This needs to change and the "Miracle on the Hudson" shows exactly why.

**john** · January 16th, 2009, 05:11 PM

ADM James Watson just posted a thank you to the mariners assisting in the rescue: LINK

**aharley** · January 16th, 2009, 06:05 PM

Originally Posted by captjacksparrow

According to this news article the ferry captain was, in fact, a very composed young woman named Brittany Catanzaro who was just 20 years old and had only recently started on the job. Quite a debut.....

There was also a brief mention of the use, on the ferry she ran, of the Jasons Cradle which was an instrumental tool used in getting the plane's passengers aboard in a safe and timely manner when time was the most critical factor. I hope that very important fact is widely understood by mariners and the marine industry as a whole, and that it receives more coverage and consideration within the maritime media so that more vessels will become equipped with them as a result. Tugs, towboats and OSV's, especially, often have no decent and rapid way to recover a MOB without unduly hazarding the rescuers. This needs to change and the "Miracle on the Hudson" shows exactly why.

I am a marine designer this is the first time I've heard of this tool Jasons Cradle. I just checked them out. It looks simplistic yet extremely functional. I will definitly keep it in mind when I'm doing my designs. BTW Thanks for the link to there site.

www.laypitman.com

**aquaholic** · January 16th, 2009, 06:58 PM

just got logged in. with the password change. checking to see if it worked.

**captjacksparrow** · January 16th, 2009, 08:45 PM

I guess I find this to be an encouraging development, sort of. The sad fact is that the Jasons Cradle has been around for well over ten years in the USA. If anybody was really paying attention and actually gave a shit it should have been standard equipment on virtually all commercial vessels shortly after its entry into the market. Failing that, the CG should have been doing everything in its power to make it mandatory by whatever means necessary.

aharley, you nailed it when you said "it looks simplistic yet extremely functional." It is both of those things (the best things always are) and I hope you take this ball and run with it like lives depended on it, because they most certainly do.

As an ex-Coastie I value things like this a great deal. Everyone should also take a look at another great and simple innovation by a retired CG Master Chief Bosun's Mate named Paul Driscoll that can make a huge difference in a MOB / lifesaving situation: the Personal Retriever from Life-Safer. Every boat should have at least one.....