Passenger from Miracle on the Hudson shares story from famous flight
Fifteen years after a Charlotte-bound plane landed in the Hudson River, a local banking executive tells Channel 9 his first-hand experience on the famous flight.
Brian Siegel serves on the board of the Sullenburgur Aviation Museum where the infamous U.S. Airways Flight 1549 now sits. Channel 9′s Evan Donavan joined him there as he walked around the remains, telling his story.
“When I joined the board of the museum in 2017 is when I moved to this point of accepting what happened and moving on,” Siegel explained.
On January 15, 2009, he tried to fly home to Charlotte after a business trip in snowy New York City.
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‘Weather wasn’t great, LaGuardia can stack up on a snowy afternoon, the earlier I can get out the better,” Siegel remembered.
The Bank of America Marketing Executive said he was rebooked but snatched the last standby seat for the 2:45 p.m. flight to Charlotte from LaGuardia.
“And I remember looking out the window to my right because we were actually taking off over what was then the new Yankee Stadium,” he said. “And it was right at that moment, as I was kind of peering out the window there was this loud, just kind of thud and the plane dropped, just, you know, a little bit and, you know, gasps from people.”
Just minutes after takeoff, U.S. Airways Flight 1549 hit a flock of geese at around 3,000 feet.
Both engines caught fire and failed. As he’s telling the story to Donovan, he points at the engines.
“I don’t remember which one it was actually fell off,” he said.
The pilot, Captain Chesley Sullenberger, came over the intercom, telling passengers to brace for impact.
>>> At 5:30, hear Siegel’s story aboard the famous Miracle on the Hudson.
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