Call this post a quick story in the wee hours using twelve fotos or less. Thomas of Weeks Marine stands by the crane barge,
crane lowers slings over aircraft,
and Alexandria Weeks arrives with receiving barge amidst a plethora of emergency vessels.
At 1030ish, the deck barge stands by as the fuselage emerges, and
a half hour later more fuselage emerges as starboard wing snaps free of the esplanade.
Crane barge moves slightly west,
and Virginia Weeks makes up to the barge in place of Alexandria.
Crane raises the aircraft, and
Virginia slides the barge underneath.
Plenty of space remains on the barge. Notice all three Weeks tugs on the shot below.
With the aircraft securely cradled on the barge, it gets unslung, and
teams of investigators move in. What is the sheeting hanging from the aft end of the plane?
Many thanks to Lee, family, and friends for my vantage point. Now, notice the starboard engine. That leaves only one to recover from the Hudson.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp, and possibly more fotos later.
17 comments
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January 18, 2009 at 4:28 am
bowsprite
bravo! what a long day…! but, you got it!
January 18, 2009 at 9:07 am
Redwing
Great post.
You know it’s a funny thing about blog, bloggers, blogging…
I had just gotten home from work and got geared up for a little shovelling and salting when Allison called me in to see something on the TV: the coverage of the plane landing had just come on, and we watched, amazed that everyone was OK.
A few thoughts raced through my mind: it was clear that nobody had died, and that everyone was going to get off (the only question for me was, are they going to get onto the ferries before the plane sinks – are they going to get wet before they get rescued?)
My first thought was, damn, I bet you that pilot was a Veteran. I just figured that kind of poise and I-need-to-make-a-lot-of-big-decisions-in-a-row-and-be-right-on-all-of-them attitude comes from training and drilling and drilling and drilling and drilling.
I was on a submarine and when we weren’t actually standing our watches, we were drilling and training. It seemed like we were a training and drilling sub that also happened to go to sea. So when we actually did have a terse announcement from our captain that there was a “fire in the main lube oil bay” everyone just reacted, following procedure and making adjustments along the way. Three years of that was enough for me to rewire my brain, so that when I’m driving, or sailing, I’m always thinking of a contingency plan. It’s almost like a ticker running along the bottom of my brain’s viewscreen. I wonder if it’s the same for other Vets.
My second thought was, Tugster is going to be all over this.
January 18, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Peter A. Mello
My first thought was tugster was going to be all over this! 😉
Posted about this great post and amazing photos! Thanks for sharing this important chapter of NY Harbor maritime history!
January 18, 2009 at 12:59 pm
cook
We knew you’d come thru with some amazing photo’s. thanks for staying up very late/early to get these pix.
January 18, 2009 at 4:04 pm
rr
Great Shots!!
Thanks to you and to Lee (and others?) for staying up late and keeping us posted.
Do you know where and when it is leaving? I just heard it is going to my home state- NJ.
Keep up the great work.
January 18, 2009 at 4:07 pm
rr
Keep those pix & posts coming! Great Series and info, as usual.
January 19, 2009 at 4:23 am
Tim Zim
Fascinating series of shots. Thanks.
January 20, 2009 at 11:59 am
Buck
Bravo!
Thanks for taking the time to go get these and for sharing them with us!
January 20, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Turinas
That’s what I call dedication. You must have been freezing!
January 20, 2009 at 5:29 pm
2 buck chuck from Tacoma
Great post, love the pictures! I’ll be following your blog from now on. Love your work!! Keep it up!
January 29, 2009 at 10:03 pm
katy
Hi professor Vandorp,
This is one of your former grammar students from las semester. I finally get to visit your blog. It is very interesting and informative. Congratulatons!
March 29, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Free the Photos of Flight 1549! | Visual Arts Junction
[…] taken by non-professionals, some even by the Weeks crane crew: Salvage photos of Flight 1549, Weeks and Flight 1549 Re-Emerges, and even the plane being hauled through the streets of New York and New Jersey. Flight 1549 on […]
April 1, 2009 at 9:08 am
Aggie Villanueva
Thankx for your info. I linked to you in my report of the issue also. I’ve really enjoyed browsing your site.
July 10, 2010 at 9:14 am
Articles » Blog Archive » Free the Hostage Photos of Flight 1549
[…] Weeks and Flight 1549 Re-Emerges, https://tugster.wordpress.com/2009/01/18/weeks-and-flight-1549-re-emerges/ and even the plane being hauled through the streets of New York and New Jersey. Flight 1549 on […]
January 11, 2017 at 8:38 am
Mark Woods
Great series thanks
January 6, 2023 at 7:41 pm
vivian cruise
Thank you for sharing those moments with us. It reminds us of the fabulous communities involved in that rescue of the passengers and Captain Sullenberger. It also reminds us that the first ten thousand hours of our career are learning to crawl. Three cheers for those that protect our shores; and that transport our goods, food, and loved ones by air, land and sea. I have a dim recollection of seeing the wingless fuselage of 1549, on a flatbed truck on a Manhattan side street NYC in September 2010?
January 6, 2023 at 8:29 pm
tugster
You are so correct, Vivian. A slight correction, though; the recovered aircraft went to New Jersey by barge. From there, it traveled by truck . . . some photos here: https://telstarlogistics.typepad.com/telstarlogistics/2009/02/usairways-1549-detours-through-new-jersey-town.html Since that time, it made its way to Carolinas Aviation Museum: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolinas_Aviation_Museum Thx for the comment.