The Celebration of a Miracle, Captured in Photography

We were honored to provide event photography for the one year anniversary celebration of what’s now commonly known as “The Miracle on the Hudson,” when Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and Co-Pilot Jeff Skiles safely landed US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River.  The flight’s passengers, united by this experience, traveled to New York City to officially thank the flight crew, first-responders, air traffic controller and the volunteers from New York and New Jersey who aided in their rescue. Passengers pooled their resources to organize the anniversary events on Friday, January 15, with the assistance of Amy Vecchione and the team at Aventina, LLC, who asked 5th Avenue Digital to photograph the proceedings.
The day started with a thank you breakfast hosted by the Red Cross of Greater New York. Co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles called the first responders and the volunteers “the true heroes of that day.”  After meeting with the press, approximately 95 of the flight’s passengers and the crew, along with their families, friends and their rescuers, took one of the NY Waterway ferries, the Henry Hudson, which transported them to the plane’s “splash landing” site in the river.  After some remarks and remembrances; along with smiles, laughter and tears they toasted “To life!” with Grey Goose vodka, an ironic nod to the geese who brought down the plane.

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From there, the celebration continued at Providence (311 West 57th Street), where three goose piñatas greeted them, created especially for this event by Los Angeles artist Tony Dominguez.  Keeping with the theme, the piñatas were stuffed with small bags of peanuts and other typical airline snacks provided by US Airways. The piñatas were created with trap doors, to not damage them.

The piñata heads were signed by Capt. Sully, co-pilot Jeff Skiles and the crew; and the tail “feathers” were signed by the passengers.  They will be auctioned off on EBay to benefit Haiti relief funds.  So far, with notable contributions from Co-Pilot Jeff Skiles and Bank of America, they have already raised over $26,000.  Having come so close to death themselves, and appreciating the important work of first responders, the group feels a collective need to assist others who weren’t so lucky to have been spared from disaster.

As with any milestone event, be it a wedding, B’nai Mitzvah or birthday, our challenge was to document the activities of the day without being intrusive, maintaining respect for the high-running emotions of the participants.  Achieving this delicate balance requires the skill and talent of our best event photographers – and it’s why 5th Avenue Digital is chosen for this kind of event photography.

What’s next? The passengers are already planning the next gathering, rumor has it is planned for April 13, 2013, the date that marks 1549 days since the Miracle.