US Airways Flight #1549

04Jul09

Recovery of US Airways 1549

I was given a very quick reminder this week as to how sobering life can be.  A co-worker who works in IT Support for the company I work for was baffled by what to do with the contents of the package he just received.  Numerous people came by his desk to take a look at this very unique item.  Content to mind my own business, I didn’t bother to see what all the curiosity and amazement was all about.  Then,  one of his counterparts invited me over to his desk to take a look.

The item was a laptop that was badly damaged and corroded.  I asked “Did someone pour acid on it?” He said “No, this is the laptop of an employee who was on US Airways flight #1549 when it crashed.  It was just returned to us after the plane wreckage was retrieved.” I said “Wow, I can’t believe it!”  He said “Yeah, we have to contact Dell to get a replacement laptop.  We have a replacement program with them.” I said “I hope you don’t plan on sending that laptop back.  You have to keep it.  That thing needs to be placed in a museum or something.  How often does plane wreckage actually end up back in the hands of the original owner.”

After that statement, I pulled out my iPhone and began snapping photos of it to share with the world.  Once again, I don’t want my photos floating around the InterWeb.  So, I have put them in a view only photo collage.

US Airways 1549 after landing in the Hudson

To me, an encounter like this is a reminder as to how unpredictable and random life can be.  I had seen coverage of the crash in the news.  I never once thought I’d be touching and photographing anything related to the crash.  It made me think “I’m only two degrees of separation from that crash.” Seeing a piece of that wreckage made me think “What if that were me?”

Captain Chesley Sullenburger

The US Airways Pilot, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenburger has gotten his due recognition for his quick thinking and safely landing the plane.  But, his heroics cannot fully be appreciated until one reviews the transcripts of what took place during the flight and how he responded.  See the video below.

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Tags: 1549, A320, Airbus, Aircraft, airplane, Airport, Bird strike, Business travel, Captain, Charlotte, Chesley, City, Computer, Crash, Dell, Hero, Hudson River, LaGuardia, Landing, Laptop, New York, New York City, Notebook, NYC, PC, Pilot, Plane, Sullenburger, Sully, Takeoff, US Airways, US Airways 1549