'Darling, I've just had an accident': The amazing calm of the airline pilot who landed on the Hudson River

The man who saved 155 lives in the Miracle on the Hudson has been revealed as a master not only of flying, but also of understatement.



A passenger who shared a life raft with Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger III told how he emotionally thanked the pilot on behalf of all the survivors.



The reply was simply: 'You're welcome.'

So proud: Lorraine Sullenberger, flanked by daughters Kate, right, and Kelly, left, fights back tears of pride for her husband as she spoke to the media yesterday

Escape: Passengers had no option but to stand on the plane's wings in the immediate aftermath of the crash

Once ashore, the captain, a father of two teenage daughters, phoned his wife Lorraine at home in California to tell her: 'There's been an accident, darling.'



The 57-year-old former fighter pilot received plaudits from around the world yesterday after landing his stricken U.S. Airways Airbus intact on New York's Hudson River.

It was the first time in half a century of commercial jet flights that an airliner had been successfully landed on water without any fatalities.



Only by executing a perfect textbook 'bellyflop' did the pilot prevent the 100-ton fuselage from disintegrating on impact.



The captain, who has been flying for nearly 40 years and also runs a safety consulting firm, walked through the aisle of the partially-submerged plane twice to make sure it was empty before being the last to leave on Thursday night.

More Clark Kent than Superman: Chesley B. Sullenberger III, otherwise known as Sully, the pilot who save 155 lives - pictured left at the U.S. Air Force Academy in in 1973, the year he joined; and right, more recently as a US Airways pilot



After his 150 passengers and four crew were ferried to shore from the sinking jet, he remained as calm as he had been from the moment a flock of geese knocked out both of his engines moments after take-off.



'He was sitting there in the ferry terminal, wearing his hat and sipping his coffee and acting like nothing happened,' said one rescuer.



'He looked absolutely immaculate - like David Niven in an airplane uniform. He looked unruffled. His uniform was sharp.'



A diver helps passengers climb into a dinghy outside the sinking airbus

Passenger Billy Campbell said he was on a rescue raft with Captain Sullenberger which took the last of those from the plane to shore.



'I leaned over and grabbed his arm, and I said I just want to thank you on behalf of all of us,' said Mr Campbell. 'I was nearly in tears with relief, but he was so calm. He just looked at me and nodded and said, "You're welcome".'



Back home in Danville, California, Mrs Sullenberger thought her husband must have been involved in only a trivial accident from his unruffled manner when he phoned her.



'It was a shock to find out what happened,' she said. 'I just thought it was something minor when he first told me. He is a pilot's pilot - very controlled and very professional.

Passers-by in Manhattan peer curiously at the plane today - still submerged in the Hudson and now surrounded by chunks of ice that, thankfully, were not floating in the river during the miracle landing

'I've heard Sully say to people that it's rare for an airline pilot to have an incident in their career so I was not afraid. It never crosses my mind.'



Flanked by her daughters Kate, 15, and Kelly, 14, she added: 'We are very proud of dad. We are just grateful that everybody got off safely. That was what my husband would have said.'

The shy hero remained out of sight as the plaudits poured in yesterday, with officials saying he was unable to comment until the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration investigation into the crash was completed.



Investigators brought in a giant crane and a barge yesterday to pull the airliner from the river.



They will now focus on examining its black box and interviewing the crew.



Slowly sinking: Survivors huddle on the wing and an escape slide minutes after the crash in this photo taken on a mobile phone by a ferry passenger

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said he would be presenting the captain with a ceremonial key to the city.



'Hemingway defined heroism once as grace under pressure and I think it's fair to say that Captain Sullenberger certainly displayed that yesterday,' he said.



Within hours of the incident, a page dedicated to praising the pilot had been set up on the internet site Facebook.

Among thousands of messages were some demanding he be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Honour.

George Worthington, from New Jersey, said: 'Not only did you land the plane safely, you walked the plane twice to make sure there was no one left on board. You are a true hero.'



Passengers were standing on the plane's wings in the immediate aftermath of the crash, which was broadcast on WNBC-TV

Another visitor asked: 'How do I book on your next flight?' while one said: 'Well done captain, great job. Now can you pick up next week's Powerball numbers for me?'

The emergency chutes were used as rafts to take passengers onto the bigger tourists boats that were standing by to help.

Although several people fell into the frigid water, they were pulled out by divers and a US Airways spokesman confirmed early today that there were no fatalities.

Hypothermia took up to just eight minutes to set in with the water temperature just above freezing.



Several survivors were treated for hypothermia and one stewardess broke her collarbone, but all - included a nine-month-old baby and a toddler - survived.



New York Governor David Paterson said: ‘This is really a potential tragedy that may have become one of the most spectacular days in the history of New York City.

Did anyone see that?: The wake made by the landing can still be seen in the water as passengers crawl out on the wings to wait for help

Firemen waiting on a rescue vessel throw survivors in a dinghy a rope

We have had the Miracle On 34th Street. Now we have the miracle on the Hudson,’ he said.

'The pilot did a masterful job,’ added New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. 'I have spoken to him and he said he walked up and down the plane after everyone was off and he was confident there wasn’t anyone left on board.’

The flight left New York’s La Guardia Airport bound for Charlotte, North Carolina, at about 3.20pm yesterday afternoon.

But both engines were wrecked within seconds and the plane was in the air just six minutes before crash landing on the river.

A dual bird strike that kills both powerplants, if confirmed by federal transportation investigators, is virtually unheard of in U.S. aviation.

Going down: The hulk of the plane sinks into the Hudson

Witnesses said the captain pulled the nose of the plane up just as it hit the water, helping to keep the fuselage intact.

Experts said the pilot did ‘absolutely everything right’ with a ‘textbook ditching'.

'If you know you are facing a ditching, the crash-landing of an aircraft on water, it is crucial that you land the plane absolutely level,’ said David Learmount, operations and safety officer of Flight Global.



'You must not try to keep the plane airborne and if you land it too slowly you will drop out of the sky,’ he added.

Mr Learmount said that the pilot had to land the plane perfectly straight - otherwise it would have broken up on impact.

Survivor Fred Burretta, added: ‘I've flown in a lot of planes and let me tell you that was a phenomenal landing.’

Some survivors of the crash laugh in relief, others phone loved ones, and still others merely look shocked as they wait for a bus to take them from a First Aid centre in New Jersey

Rescuer workers help a survivor onto a waiting boat



