For 'Miracle' flight survivors, a decade of thankfulness

Children they've gotten to see grow up. Grandchildren they've been able to meet. New jobs and adventures.

For the people who were on US Airways flight 1549 on that cold January day in 2009, it's been 10 years full of milestones and important moments since the "Miracle on the Hudson" — when their plane collided with a flock of geese after takeoff from New York City's LaGuardia Airport and everyone on board survived the crash landing into the Hudson River.

It's a common refrain among survivors, of how that day led to big life changes and small everyday choices, and to feeling joy more readily. But some also speak of the anxiety that can still rise every time they're on a flight.

In this Jan. 9, 2019 photo, Tripp Harris, who was a passenger on US Airways Flight 1549, the "Miracle on the Hudson" airliner in 2009, poses for a photo on the High Line along the Hudson River in New York. It’s been 10 years since the flight landed on the Hudson River after colliding with a flock of geese just after takeoff. All 155 people on board survived the Jan. 15, 2009, incident, which became known as the “Miracle on the Hudson.” (AP PhotoRichard Drew)

"Life is beautiful. You have to look at every day and say I'm going to make the most of this day because you never know what's going to happen, and miracles do happen," said Alyson Bell, of Charlotte, North Carolina.

The experience had "every single emotion you could ever feel," said Michele Davis, of Olympia, Washington, who had been flying to Charlotte that day on her way to Seattle.

"And then, ending it all with 'Wow, I'm alive' and like this amazement and still kind of in awe. It took quite a while for it to sink in still. It seems unbelievable now," Davis said.

In this Jan. 9, 2019 photo, Tripp Harris, who was a passenger on US Airways Flight 1549, the "Miracle on the Hudson" airliner in 2009, poses for a photo on the High Line along the Hudson River in New York. It’s been 10 years since the flight landed on the Hudson River after colliding with a flock of geese just after takeoff. All 155 people on board survived the Jan. 15, 2009, incident, which became known as the “Miracle on the Hudson.” (AP PhotoRichard Drew)

Survivors, including Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who helmed the controls in the plane's final descent, gathered Tuesday at the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte, where the flight was headed and where the damaged plane is now held.

At 3:31 p.m., the exact moment the plane splashed down into the river on Jan. 15, 2009, they shared a toast, with Sullenberger counting down the last five seconds.

Flight 1549 took off from LaGuardia a decade ago with Sullenberger's co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles at the controls, three flight attendants and 150 passengers aboard. It was cold, only about 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 7 degrees Celsius), but the skies were clear.

In this Jan. 9, 2019 photo, Tripp Harris, who was a passenger on US Airways Flight 1549, the "Miracle on the Hudson" airliner in 2009, poses for a photo on the High Line along the Hudson River in New York. It's been 10 years since the flight landed on the Hudson River after colliding with a flock of geese just after takeoff. All 155 people on board survived the Jan. 15, 2009, incident, which became known as the “Miracle on the Hudson.” (AP PhotoRichard Drew)

"What a view of the Hudson today," Sullenberger remarked to Skiles, according to National Transportation Safety Board's report on the crash.

Less than a minute later, the plane and birds collided at 3,000 feet (915 meters). Both engines stopped. Sullenberger took the controls and told air traffic controllers he couldn't make it back to LaGuardia. His choices were a small airport for private aircraft in New Jersey — possibly too far — or the river. Sullenberger picked the water.

At 3:31 p.m., the plane splashed down, somehow stayed in one piece, and began floating fast toward the harbor. Passengers got out on the wings and inflatable rafts as commuter ferries raced to the rescue.

In this Jan. 10, 2019 photo, Steve O'Brien poses for a photo at his home in Charlotte, N.C., with an editorial cartoon framed with his boarding pass from US Airways Flight 1549, that eventually crash-landed in the Hudson River on Jan. 19, 2009. Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2019 is the tenth anniversary of the flight known as the "Miracle on the Hudson" after all 155 passengers and crew members survived. (AP PhotoChuck Burton)

One flight attendant and four passengers were hurt, but everyone else was mostly fine.

"While I don't know that I would do it again, it certainly gave me some clarity around my life priorities and the importance of my family," said Pam Seagle, 52, of Wilmington, North Carolina, who was on the flight.

In the aftermath, she made some big life decisions.

In this Jan. 10, 2019 photo, Steve O'Brien holds an editorial cartoon framed with his boarding pass from US Airways Flight 1549 that eventually crash-landed in the Hudson River on Jan. 19, 2009 as he poses for a photo at his home in Charlotte, N.C. Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2019 is the tenth anniversary of the flight known as the "Miracle on the Hudson" after all 155 passengers and crew members survived. (AP PhotoChuck Burton)

She and her family moved away from Charlotte to a new home at the beach in Wilmington. While she still works for Bank of America, her employer in 2009, she moved to a division that promotes women's economic empowerment. She took time to be with loved ones, including a long-overdue break with her sister. She held those moments with family even dearer after her sister's unexpected death months later in 2009.

That January day 10 years ago "kind of put me on this path to where I am now, and where I'm very happy and content," she said.

Getting over the trauma of the experience took some time for passenger Steve O'Brien, 54, of Charlotte.

In this Jan. 10, 2019 photo, Steve O'Brien poses for a photo at his home in Charlotte, N.C. O'Brien was a passenger on US Airways Flight 1549 that eventually crash-landed in the Hudson River on Jan. 9, 2009. Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2019 is the tenth anniversary of the flight known as the "Miracle on the Hudson" after all 155 passengers and crew members survived. (AP PhotoChuck Burton)

"That first year was tough. You're scattered. You can't focus. You're impatient," he said. "There's this thin place between life and death ... and we were at a really thin place and then you get yanked back."

When he flies now, he looks for the emergency exits and can't sleep as easily in his seat anymore.

"I'll be on a plane and I'll be nodding off or something, and a bump will happen and all of a sudden it comes back, and you just feel this electric scared, overwhelming feeling that hits you in the chest," he said.

Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger poses with crew members and passengers who were on US Airways Flight 1549, which he piloted to a splashdown in the Hudson River in New York on Jan. 15, 2009, after a bird strike took out both engines in the Airbus A320. The group marked the 10th anniversary of the event at the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. (AP PhotoSkip Foreman)

But he says he feels he's a more relaxed person now with life's lesser frustrations.

"I realize that little things are to be appreciated, that mundane things are what make up your life," he said, "and that's the things you're going to miss if it's going to be yanked away from you."

Follow Deepti Hajela on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dhajela . For more of her work, search for her name at https://apnews.com .

Elizabeth McHugh, left, hugs Alyson Bell at the Carolinas Aviation Museum on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019, as they reunite on the 10th anniversary of the Miracle on the Hudson. McHugh said it was Bell who helped her out of US Airways Flight 1549 and on to a ferry after the plane splashed into the Hudson River. (AP PhotoSkip Foreman)

Capt. Chesley "Sully' Sullenberger" shares a toast with members of the crew of US Airways Flight 1549, which he guided to a splashdown in the Hudson River in New York on Jan. 15, 2009. Crew and passengers gathered at the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte, N.C., on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019, to mark the 10th anniversary of the Miracle on the Hudson. (AP PhotoSkip Foreman)

TOKYO (AP) — The American envoy to the United Nations called Friday for countries armed with atomic weapons to pursue nuclear disarmament as she visited the atomic bomb museum in Nagasaki, Japan.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who became the first U.S. cabinet member to visit Nagasaki, stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy amid a growing nuclear threat in the region.

“We must continue to work together to create an environment for nuclear disarmament. We must continue to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in every corner of the world,” she said after a tour of the atomic bomb museum.

“For those of us who already have those weapons, we must pursue arms control. We can and must work to ensure that Nagasaki is the last place to ever experience the horror of nuclear weapons,” she added, standing in front of colorful hanging origami cranes, a symbol of peace.

The United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people. A second attack three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more people. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.

Nagasaki Gov. Kengo Oishi said in a statement that he believed Thomas-Greenfield's visit and her first-person experience at the museum “will be a strong message in promoting momentum of nuclear disarmament for the international society at a time the world faces a severe environment surrounding atomic weapons.”

Oishi said he conveyed to the ambassador the increasingly important role of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in emphasizing the need of nuclear disarmament.

Thomas-Greenfield's visit to Japan comes on the heels of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official visit to the United States last week and is aimed at deepening Washington's trilateral ties with Tokyo and Seoul. During her visit to South Korea earlier this week, she held talks with South Korean officials, met with defectors from North Korea and visited the demilitarized zone.

The ambassador said the United States is looking into setting up a new mechanism for monitoring North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Russia and China have thwarted U.S.-led efforts to step up U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile testing since 2022, underscoring a deepening divide between permanent Security Council members over Russia’s war on Ukraine.

She said it would be “optimal” to launch the new system next month, though it is uncertain if that is possible.

The U.N. Security Council established a committee to monitor sanctions, and the mandate for its panel of experts to investigate violations had been renewed for 14 years until last month, when Russia vetoed another renewal.

In its most recent report, the panel of experts said it is investigating 58 suspected North Korean cyberattacks between 2017 and 2023 valued at approximately $3 billion, with the money reportedly being used to help fund its weapons development.

The United States, Japan and South Korea have been deepening security ties amid growing tension in the region from North Korea and China.

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, right, speaks to Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, second right, as they wait for a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, right, walk to meet Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, talk prior to a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, prepare to talk during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)