Flight 1549: Miracles on the Hudson
Flight 1549: Miracles on the Hudson is a feature length documentary produced by Voyage Digital Media on that bitter cold day in January 2009 when a US Airways commuter Airbus made crippling impact with a flock of geese, forcing Captain “Sully” Sullenberger and co-pilot Jeff Skiles to make a ditched landing in the freezing waters of the Hudson River.
Due in part to the Port of New York’s rebirth as a thriving maritime hub in recent years, there were commuter and working boats nearby to rush to the rescue of 143 passengers and crew members, working in tandem with the Coast Guard and New York and New Jersey’s first responders. Despite the frigid temperatures, strong currents and the alarming rate at which the plane was sinking, not a single life was lost.
A fascinating subject as evidenced by its ongoing media coverage as well as the 2016 release of the Oscar-nominated film Sully starring Tom Hanks, this film focuses less on the captain and more on the riveting firsthand accounts of that life-changing experience by the plane’s passengers and their police, firefighter, EMT and Coast Guard rescuers, providing a powerful story of New York and a unique insight into human triumph in the face of certain disaster.
The film examines the event’s historical context as well, including New York City’s history as a key port, its decline in the wake of air travel and shipments by plane, and the resurgence of the port in recent years.