CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It is hard to believe that it has been 15 years since the Miracle on the Hudson. For those who don't remember, that was when US Airways Flight 1549 from New York's LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte took off but had to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River on Jan. 15, 2009. All 155 people onboard survived, and Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles were heralded as heroes.
WCNC Charlotte sat down with four of them to remember that day and delve into how their perspectives have changed over time.
Ben Bostic was in seat 20A on his way home from a work trip.
"The only words he ever said to us was, 'This is your captain speaking, brace for impact,'" Bostic recalled.
"When I first heard 'brace for impact,' I thought that was it, I had to quickly go through the grief cycle and accept it," Vicki Barnhardt, who was seated in 26C, admitted.
Beth McHugh was in seat 20C right next to Bostic. Now 80 years old, she is one of the older passengers who flew that day.
"I can still smell the smoke coming in from the engine," McHugh said. "I can still hear the sounds of people whispering 'what happened, what happened?'"
"I saw the engine on fire, flames shooting out the engine," Bostic shared. "That, to me, was like, 'This is not good.'"
"There are so many little frames that just stick in your mind, they don’t fade," Barnhardt said.
"If I close my eyes, I can relive the scene exactly," McHugh said.
Denise Locke was sitting in seat 2C.
"There's pieces of the puzzle that come back to me," Locke admitted.
"Time slows down, and I'm thinking, 'You know what, I've had a pretty good life,' and it was the calmest I’ve probably ever been in my life," Bostic remembered.
When the plane made the emergency landing that day, the passengers had to figure out how to safely get out of the plane and survive the icy waters they’d landed in.
"Once the plane settled, and I’m like, 'Oh my God, I’m in one piece,' and then the water comes in, and I'm not a swimmer," Bostic explained.
"I remember being helped up the rope ladder, and I remember the bitter cold, and my fingers were frozen as well as my feet," Locke added.
Now, 15 years later, they all say the memories are as clear as ever.
"I remember stepping over the ledge of the window to get onto the wing," Barnhardt said. "I jumped into the water, which was not a great decision. At the time, I thought it was, and I remember somebody pulling me back up onto the wing. I remember the moment when we saw the ferry on the other side coming, and that was a moment of 'Hey, we're gonna be rescued."
McHugh was jubilant when he saw the ferry.
"The feeling, an amazing feeling of hope," McHugh described. "Like, 'Oh, we might actually live through this.'"
The retiree and grandmother has held onto that feeling ever since.
"Gratitude became a daily feeling of thinking, I'm so glad that I got to experience this," McHugh said. "My youngest grandson was 3 months old, and [now] he's 15. I have a granddaughter I never would have met."
Barnhardt cherishes all the milestones she is still around to see.
"My kids were 4 and 8 when this happened, and now they're 23 and 19, so I've seen a lot of graduations, life milestones, and it's been really special," Barnhardt shared.
Another thing that's changed over the years is their life perspectives. In the last five years, these Miracle on the Hudson passengers all said they’ve come to a similar realization about that day. Bostic gets emotional talking about it.
"There were 155 humans on that plane that day, and not all of them were the same ethnicities, different religious backgrounds, different languages, gender differences but we all came together as one," Bostic said.
"That’s the most important lesson, we saw the best of humanity that day, all around us in our fellow passengers," McHugh added. "Sully and Jeff and the crew, first responders, we saw the best of people that day, and I want us to look for that again, find the best of humanity everywhere you are."
Barnhardt agreed.
"We were given a gift to be here to continue to help other people, so I would challenge people, especially in today’s world, I’m constantly saying, 'Wow, this is a very selfish world we live in, what would you lose by letting go of some of that and actually helping someone else?'" Barnhardt shared.
"Look for the hopeful, we can be good human beings if we try," McHugh said.
McHugh spent many years volunteering as a tour guide at the museum and talking to guests since then. She hopes to get back to that when the new museum opens this summer.
Contact Michelle Boudin at mboudin@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.