CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WCNC) — Eleven years ago on January 15, Flight 1549 bound for Charlotte made a crash landing into the icy Hudson River.
Shortly after takeoff, the jet's engines were taken out by a flock of geese. Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger pulled off a landing hailed among the greatest feats in aviation history, guiding the plane to a safe landing on the icy Hudson River.
Miraculously, all 155 people on board survived.
Wednesday morning, in honor of the 11th anniversary, Sully posted a tweet saying he would share 11 lessons he learned from that flight and in the aftermath.
- His first lesson: "In every encounter with another person, there is inherently an opportunity: for good, for ill or for indifference. We just have to choose which it is going to be."
- His second lesson: "I have long understood the importance of and the power of leadership by personal example."
- His third lesson: "Automation does not eliminate errors. Rather, it changes the nature of errors that are made, and it makes possible new kinds of errors."
- His fourth lesson: "We must continue renewing our investments in people, systems and technologies to maintain the level of safety we as a society deserve."
- His fifth lesson: "Every day, we owe an incredible debt of gratitude not only to our servicemen and women, but also to the first responders in our country."
- His sixth lesson: "I observed the way even the most routine actions and the smallest words could resonate and have an impact on the morale of a team. Few things went completely unnoticed or were without consequence."
- His seventh lesson: "I have always tried to be a long-term optimist but a short-term realist."
- His eighth lesson: "We cannot only reflect on the great deeds we do in our lives. We must appreciate the smaller, daily deeds as well. Those are what add up to a life well-lived."
- His ninth lesson: "Nothing can fully prepare you for a crisis. But investing in lifelong learning and growing your skillset can equip you with the necessary tools to succeed."
- His tenth lesson: "Everyone we've ever known, every experience we've had, every decision we've made, every regret we have had to deal with and accept - these are what make us who we are today."
- His eleventh lesson: "When a dedicated group of people rises to the occasion, remembers their common humanity, and works together, there is little we cannot accomplish."
WCNC has spoken with a number of passengers on board the famed flight. Many of them have said surviving gave them a second chance at life.
The passengers onboard Flight 1549 share a bond that has made them like family. Last July, several passengers gathered at the Carolinas Aviation Museum before the famed U.S. Airways aircraft from Flight 1549 was tucked away in storage.
"What's amazing is there's 155 different stories from that day and I like hearing everybody else's stories, and it just makes it so miraculous," passenger Laurie Crane, seat 9D, said at the time. "Some people thought we were going to die on the plane, then we thought we were going to die on the river. That we all were saved, it's just a godsend."
