Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Crying, cheering and embracing, the survivors of US Airways Flight 1549 raised a toast to life Friday, marking the anniversary of their harrowing water landing with a return to the place their crippled jet hit the Hudson River.
Hollering, they raised their glasses at 3:31 p.m., the moment of impact, on one of the ferries that plucked them shivering from the water just minutes after they splashed down. With the sun gleaming on the Hudson and festive sprays of colorful water shooting into the sky behind them, they made the toast at the approximate place where the plane went down after a half-day of gatherings to mark their miraculous survival.
In the extra year that no one expected they would have, the survivors have been coping with the trauma of their terrifying crash, but also discovering new gifts. One passenger, Jennifer Doyle, is pregnant. Karin Hill became Karin Hill Rooney when she married her boyfriend, who was sitting next to her as the plane went down. Another two, Ben Bostic and Laura Zych, strangers at the time of the crash, have fallen in love and begun dating.
The year has also been a difficult one. Ann Oblak, who saw her 73rd birthday after surviving the crash, still sometimes has dreams of being on the plummeting plane. She and her husband took a train from their home in Lancaster, S.C., to reunite with the other passengers. The Croatia native has yet to get on a plane again, and she's been too afraid to get on a boat and return to the water.
Still, they were determined to join in Friday's celebration, she said, to see the other passengers again.
At the ferry terminal, Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger was mobbed by well-wishers. Passengers ran to get their cameras and pose with the man who was so instrumental in saving their lives -- a celebrity even among this group of celebrities.
Among the group was Hannah Acton, whose husband, Patrick, was on the flight.
"Thank you so much," she told the pilot, tears welling behind her thick-rimmed glasses, clutching a copy of his book to her chest.
Later, she recalled the dread she felt after getting a call that her husband's plane had gone down, then not knowing for 23 minutes whether he was dead or alive as she watched the rescue on television.
"I was hysterical," she said. "I thought, 'Oh my God, now I'm watching my husband die.' "
The plane's entire crew was present. Co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles was there, as were flight attendants Doreen Welsh, Donna Dent and Sheila Dail.
