CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolinas Aviation Museum has a new home in Charlotte next to the Charlotte Douglas Airport. The facility broke ground Tuesday.
The museum will be named after Captain "Sully" Sullenberger, who successfully landed U.S. Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009.
What You Need To Know
- On January 15, 2009, U.S. Airways flight 1549 crash-landed in the Hudson River
- All 150 passengers and 5 crew members aboard flight 1549 survived
- The Carolinas Aviation Museum broke ground on its new facility Tuesday, adjacent to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport
- The museum will be named after pilot Captain "Sully" Sullenberger who successfully saved the passengers
- Michael Whitesides from Dallas, N.C. was sitting in seat 10-B during the "Miracle on the Hudson" flight and says the day changed his life forever
Michael Whitesides was sitting in seat 10-B during the flight and says that day changed his life forever.
“I recall it was -6 degrees in Buffalo and thinking how cold it was and how much snow was outside. I was trying to get home. I almost missed the flight from Buffalo to La Guardia, because it was overbooked and they wanted to bump me off and I just made a big stink - 'I’m getting on this plane.' I can vividly recall as we took off looking at the skyline of New York City, how beautiful it was, the Statue of Liberty," Whitesides said.
Whitesides then says he saw a black blur go by his window. A flock of birds had hit the engine.
"I heard a big ‘ole boom! And the plane started to shudder and shake, and inside the cabin it was eerie. There was like an electrical burnt smell, and you could just tell something was wrong. Honestly I was OK at that moment because I know you can land on one engine. Little did the left side know, the right side was also blown by the flock of birds that hit the plane," Whitesides said.
"I looked out thinking I was going to see a runway we were going back to, but instead, I saw the Hudson River. It was at that moment I realized, we’re not going back to the runway, we’re going to hit the river, we’re going down," Whitesides continued. "Flight attendants, they were going up and down the aisles trying to prepare us, I think they realized what was happening, they were saying, 'get prepared, head down.'"
He said people were praying and calling their loved ones. One man in front of Whitesides called his wife to tell her "I love you," one last time. Whitesides picked up his cell to call his wife but then threw it on the floor and said a prayer instead.
He then locked arms with the passengers next to him as he heard CaptainSullenberger say, "brace for impact."
“From that moment we had about 90 seconds to think about everything in life. As we were going down, 90 seconds seem like an eternity. But you think about everything in life - it's family, it's the important things in life, it wasn't the job at the time. And I remember going down thinking, alright we’re going to hit, this could be it," Whitesides said.
As soon as the plane hit the water, Whitesides said it was impactful, and that there was so much adrenaline inside him and the other passengers.
"I can recall hitting the water and thinking, 'alright, I’m alive, this is a true miracle in itself.' And I looked at the window and I saw water coming up over the window, and I was thinking, 'well darn we’re going to down now!' Whitesides said.
He said it was a roller coaster of emotions. After realizing he was alive, he took off his seatbelt and went to the exit door.
"I took the door off the hinges. I thought I could throw it 200 yards, it probably went about 2 feet, but I threw it off and it slid off the wing and into the water," Whitesides said.
Whitesides and another passenger fell into the freezing water of the Hudson. He says it was 7 to 10 minutes until a fire department boat picked him out of the water and hypothermia had started to set in.
“It took your breath, it was just a stunning. If you’re in the water for so long, the tips of my fingers started to hurt, sharp pains," Whitesides said.
As the local responders took off his freezing wet clothes, he says he felt two arms come around him.
"And I looked down it was this big pilot’s coat, and I turned around and it was Capt. Sully, who had given me his pilot’s coat. I do believe he was part of the miracle. He was the perfect pilot. He was in charge, the last one to get off the plane, going up and down the aisles making sure everyone was off even as water was filling the plane," Whitesides said.
A few months later, Whitesides was able to meet Sullenberger and give him his pilot's coat back. He thanked the captain for saving him and 154 other people.
Whitesides still has his water-logged Bible and the blanket from the American Red Cross.
He says he was a Christian man before the "Miracle on the Hudson," but that day confirmed his conviction in God.
“I think as I was going down, I sit back and reflect on that, that's really what that event was, it's an amazing miracle. I do believe, but to sit back, somebody had to have a hand in that. To me personally, as a Christian, I believe it was God’s hands.The next morning, I got on a plane and came home. It changed everyone’s life," Whitesides said.
