Read More of the Same Day's Blog

The spectacular sight of a half-submerged jetliner floating down the icy Hudson River with passengers standing on its wings awaiting rescue was the irresistible unanimous pick for Story of the Day. The crash landing of USAirways Flight 1549 led all three newscasts and accounted for fully 63% (37 min out of 59) of their combined newshole. It was the third most newsworthy non-campaign-related Story of the Day in the last 18 months (the I-5 bridge collapse in Minneapolis in August 2007--45 min; the death of NBC's Tim Russert in June 2008--44 min). CBS anchor Katie Couric even left the warmth of her west side studio to anchor her newscast from the banks of the frigid river. All 155 people on board the jet--150 passengers; five crew--survived.

The A-320 Airbus lost power in both of its engines within minutes of taking off from LaGuardia Airport. Losing altitude, it was not able to return nor to reach the nearby suburban Teterboro Airport. So the pilot looped over the George Washington Bridge and ditched in the river off midtown Manhattan. CBS' Bob Orr (no link) calculated that the plane cleared the bridge by 900 feet and hit the water at 150 mph, The fact that the crash landing happened within sight of the headquarters of all the major national news organizations helped make the survival story so newsworthy. Robin Roberts, anchor of ABC's Good Morning America saw the ditching from the balcony of her Manhattan apartment: "I saw the pilot make the most perfect landing. It was as if he was using the Hudson River as a runway." Joyce Cordero, a producer for 60 Minutes, took out her binoculars to watch the rescue from her office: "I was able to see people standing on the aircraft wings. They seemed pretty calm. It was not so chaotic as I would expect it to be," she told CBS' Randall Pinkston.


Andrew Tyndall 1/17/09 6:59:18 pm

© 2010 Tyndall Report