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Flight 1549 Survivors to Mark 'Miracle on the Hudson' Anniversary With Toast

By DNAinfo Staff on January 14, 2010 6:01pm  | Updated on January 15, 2010 6:34am

By Nina Mandell

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — A year after their plane splashed down on the Hudson River, the passengers and crew from U.S. Airways Flight 1549 will mark the anniversary of the Miracle on the Hudson by returning to the site of the crash on Friday.

The crew, including Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, and passengers will travel by ferry to the spot where Sully landed the Airbus A320 safely. The passengers and crew will then raise a glass together at 3:31 p.m. — the exact moment the plane touched the water last year.

The survivors will reportedly drink Grey Goose vodka for the toast, a nod to the geese that took the plane down.

Earlier in the day, the Red Cross will also host a breakfast for the 155 passengers and the first responders that saved them.

“We are all ever so grateful to everybody for getting us home safely," Tracey Wolsko, a survivor from Charlotte, N.C. told the Daily News. "We wanted to give back to them and the whole City of New York.”

It won’t be the first time the survivors have seen each other. They’ve appeared on numerous television programs, including a tearful gathering on 60 Minutes and reunions at one another's homes. Two of them even began dating.

Rescuers rush to the aid of Flight 1549 after it landed in the Hudson River on Jan. 15, 2009.
Rescuers rush to the aid of Flight 1549 after it landed in the Hudson River on Jan. 15, 2009.
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Flickr/Freeman's Photos

In 2009, at 3:26 p.m., the flight departed from LaGuardia on its way to Charlotte when it hit a flock of geese and was forced to make a crash landing after both engines failed.

It is the only known water landing by a commercial airline that did not result in fatalities.

Several of the 155 passengers are still suffering from the psychological aftereffects from the crash.

Passenger Jorge Morgado has not been on a plane since.

"I know once I get on, they close that door and you're strapped in your seat, you're in, you're not going anywhere. The flashbacks will still come,'' the 33-year-old flooring company owner told the Associated Press. "What happened will always be there.''

Despite the trauma of the crash, some survivors are enjoying a more positive look on life after their brush with death.

"There is really, really nothing in life to fear,'' salesman Mark Hood told the AP. "I feel like every day is a bonus no matter how difficult the problems...''

Capt. Chesley
Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger poses on the red carpet at the premiere of "Brace for Impact," a documentary based on the Miracle on the Hudson plane crash.
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AP Photo/Frank Franklin II