‘Miracle on the Hudson’ survivors mark 11 years since crash landing, rescue

NEW YORK — Wednesday marks the 11th anniversary of “The Miracle on the Hudson,” when a U.S. Airways flight bound for Charlotte landed safely in the Hudson River.

The plane went down in 2009 after a birdstrike, but everyone survived thanks to the heroic actions of Pilot Sully Sullenberger.

For the 10th anniversary, passengers, crew members and Sullenberger were in Charlotte to see the plane and celebrate the impossible.

The “Miracle on the Hudson” is one of the most amazing stories in aviation history. Everyone survived -- and many who did -- say it changed their lives.

Many of the passengers said they have continued to stay in touch frequently since the amazing crash landing and rescue brought them together.

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“It’s this weird bond that you don’t have to explain. If there aren’t any words that go with it. You don’t have to explain it, you just look at each other and you know, yeah we did do that together,” passenger Jim Whitaker told Channel 9.

The plane’s wreckage belongs to the Carolinas Aviation Museum, but it is currently in storage while the airport expands.

[ ALSO READ: 'Miracle on the Hudson' flight survivors mark decade of thankfulness ]

It will stay there for the next three years while the museum works to move to a new home.

“It’s our responsibility as a museum , working with the airport, working with the city, to make sure we take care of that sensitive aircraft that is also a very sacred part of our American history,” Carolinas Aviation Museum spokesman Stephen Saucier said.

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