TAMPA, Fla. — Images of the Airbus A320 floating in the Hudson River on that cold January afternoon 10 years ago are forever etched in most of our minds thanks to media coverage.
But for Tampa resident Matt Kane and his wife, Tracey, it was a first-hand experience that remains vivid to this day.
- Matt Kane was on U.S. Airways Flight 1549
- Helped other passengers get to rafts once plane was in the water
- Kane was the last passenger off the plane
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On January 15, 2009, U.S. Airways flight 1549 hit a flock of geese at an elevation of about 2,800 feet two minutes after takeoff from New York’s La Guardia Airport.
That day, Captain Chesley "Sully” Sullenberger made the call that ultimately saved everyone's life. The hero pilot landed the plane on the frigid waters of the Hudson River.
Sitting in the kitchen of their Tampa home, Matt and Tracey Kane watched video of the plane in the water and recalled what happened in those harrowing moments.
“I look to the left and I start seeing black things coming out of the engine and immediately afterwards you start seeing the fire,” Matt said.
The father of two, with water up to his waist and bleeding from a cut on his head, went into survival mode and helped other passengers.
“It's dark. You start feeling this cold water and you start saying to yourself, 'I'm in the back of a plane, am I going to drown?'” Matt said.
Then, in the midst of what he describes as organized chaos, he called his wife.
“I turned the news on immediately and you can still see the plane and it’s sinking,” Tracey said. “When we hung up, I said to him, 'call me as soon as you're in a raft. Call me as soon as you're off the plane.'”
"Truly a miracle"
Matt was the last passenger off Flight 1549. He told us he kept calm by focusing on doing what’s right and surviving in hopes of reuniting with his family once again.
All 155 passengers and crew members survived the terrifying ordeal.
“We worked all together to get to one outcome, which was to get safely there," Matt told us. "It could've gone bad in a lot of different directions. It didn't and I think people need to point to that. That's why I think it matters."
“It's truly a miracle that they all joined together. It's a sign that maybe our country can come together again,” Tracey said.
The Kanes moved to Tampa about two and a half years ago from Bridgeport, Connecticut. They say they waited a few years after the crash to explain what happened to their twins Ali and Rogan, who were toddlers at the time, so they wouldn’t get scared about Matt’s frequent business travel. The twins are 13 years old now.
The “Miracle on the Hudson” was a defining moment in history that is still inspiring and touching lives 10 years later.
The heroic crash-landing raised awareness about aircraft bird strikes and prompted changes in aviation.
Today, the plane is on display at the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte, N.C. where an estimated 60-percent of the passengers on board flight 1549 are from. You can read the NTSB's accident report on the Flight 1549 incident here: https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AAR1003.aspx.