Jan. 15, 2009: 'Miracle on the Hudson' was truly that

Scott Butler, Florida Times-Union
·4 min read
In this file photo from Jan. 15, 2009, airline passengers wait to be rescued on the wings of a US Airways Airbus 320 jetliner that safely emergency landed in the frigid waters of the Hudson River in New York after a flock of birds knocked out both its engines.
In this file photo from Jan. 15, 2009, airline passengers wait to be rescued on the wings of a US Airways Airbus 320 jetliner that safely emergency landed in the frigid waters of the Hudson River in New York after a flock of birds knocked out both its engines.

The images are iconic: US Airways Flight 1549 floating on a frigid Hudson River with passengers standing on every inch of its wings and huddled one by one on the inflatable exit ramps.

It was Jan. 15, 2009, and all 155 people aboard survived what was quickly and memorably dubbed “Miracle on the Hudson.” 

Three First Coast men were among them — Carl Bazarian of Amelia Island, Donald C. Jones of Jacksonville and Casey Jones of St. Johns County.

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Carl Bazarian of Amelia Island hugs wife Linda after seeing her for the first time upon returning to Jacksonville from the Jan. 15, 2009, "Miracle on the Hudson" in Manhattan, N.Y. All 155 people aboard US Airways Flight 1549 survived after crash landing into the Hudson River shortly after departing LaGuardia Airport when the plane struck some geese disabling the engines.

Bound for Charlotte and Seattle, the jet struck a flock of geese shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York City. With both engines disabled, Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles decided to glide the plane into the river in Midtown Manhattan.

"Prepare for impact,” Sullenberger warned. And with those three words, Bavarian said in a Jan. 17, 2009, Times-Union story, "I wrote my life off. I really did."

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The plane hit the water within about a minute, he said, so quickly that he didn't get to finish his prayer.

"I didn't brace myself because I thought it was no use," Bavarian, then 62, told reporters at Jacksonville International Airport as tears filled his eyes several times recounting the crash.

Jacksonville resident Donald C. Jones fields questions from the media on Jan. 16, 2009, after arriving to Jacksonville International Airport. Jones survived the "Miracle on the Hudson" plane crash a day earlier. All 155 aboard the US Airways flight made it out safely after the aircraft's engines lost power a few minutes into the flight from LaGuardia Airport after hitting a flock of geese.

The first thing Donald Jones did when he walked off the plane into JIA was kiss the ground, the Times-Union reported in another Jan. 17 story about each of the survivors.

Jones, 68 at the time, said he was among the first group to exit and, after going down the emergency slide, found himself swimming in the 32-degree water. Once he made it onto a wing flap, he said the 10-minute wait before the first rescue ferry arrived felt like a lifetime.

"I felt like an iceberg, and it didn't take long before I was worried about hypothermia," he said.

Casey Jones points to himself standing on the wing of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 that splash-landed into the Hudson River in New York a day earlier as he and his daughter Mandy (background) watch a news report on the television screen Jan. 16, 2009, at his home in St. Johns County, Florida. He and all others aboard survived the "Miracle on the Hudson."

For Casey Jones, who was 48, he said he plans to not let the little things bother him anymore and appreciate life and family more than ever. He had been traveling to New York since November on business and always took Flight 1549 on the way home. He said he felt confident that survival was possible if the plane missed the bridges and boats in the Hudson.

Once safely in a hotel afterward, he said he was wearing a shirt that was too small and pants six times too big that were given to him by strangers to get out of his wet and frozen clothes. “In that moment, I had this realization about what it must be like to be homeless."

Casey Jones, center, one of the survivors of the "Miracle on the Hudson" plane crash, and his volunteers deliver 315 frozen turkeys to The Salvation Army on Nov. 23, 2015.
Casey Jones, center, one of the survivors of the "Miracle on the Hudson" plane crash, and his volunteers deliver 315 frozen turkeys to The Salvation Army on Nov. 23, 2015.

Since then he has organized an annual turkey food drive to give to needy families. And a year later while speaking at a school, he said he has a new motto in life: He’s on "bonus time now."

"When you leave today, embrace your goals, embrace your life, embrace everything you do," Jones said to the students, as reported by the TU on Feb. 5, 2010. Much like the captain said that day to brace for impact, he said "Today, embrace for impact and change your life."

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On the first anniversary of the crash, Bavarian said he too is reinvigorated to do even more good deeds. “We won the lottery of life," he said in a Jan. 15, 2010, Times-Union story.

Carl Bazarian of Amelia Island, a survivor of the US Airways plane crash in the Hudson River, speaks with media as he waits for a bus to take himself and other passengers from a first-aid center in Weehawken, N.J., back to La Guardia Airport on Jan. 15, 2009.
Carl Bazarian of Amelia Island, a survivor of the US Airways plane crash in the Hudson River, speaks with media as he waits for a bus to take himself and other passengers from a first-aid center in Weehawken, N.J., back to La Guardia Airport on Jan. 15, 2009.

Six years later in a Times-Union story previewing the Tom Hanks movie about the captain and flight, “Sully,” Donald Jones said the passengers were in the best hands possible in Sullenberger.

"He trained at the Air Force Academy, he flew jets for the Air Force," he said. "He'd flown for almost 40 years. He was a glider pilot. He studied water landings. He was a safety instructor."

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Jones met Sullenberger, along with co-pilot Skiles and the crew in Charlotte several weeks after the emergency landing.

"We hugged them all, and thanked them," he said. Jones has since passed away at 75 in 2017.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Reliving Flight 1549 Miracle on the Hudson with Jacksonville survivors