by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
“This does not sound good.”
Those were the words Don Jones recalled going through his mind seconds after US Airways Flight 1549 collided with a flock of birds after taking off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport on its way to Charlotte, N. C.
Jones shared his story of survival Monday with the members and guests of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville.
A few minutes after taking off, the 155 passengers and crew found themselves in the Hudson River waiting to be rescued. Jones described the event as miraculous by any standards.
“The definition of ‘miracle’ is a wondrous act of divine intervention,” said Jones, who pointed out Flight 1549 represents the first time in the history of aviation a commercial airliner crash landed in water without casualties.
“One thing I want you to keep in mind,” added Jones. “Two hands reached down and kept that airplane afloat. There’s no doubt in my mind it was the hands of God.”
Jones is CEO of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and was on – until the flight home – a routine business trip.
“I was in New York doing a media tour for Thyroid Awareness Month,” he said. “When we woke up that morning it was dark and gloomy, about 20 degrees and snowing like crazy. We doubted we’d be able to leave.”
After a 90-minute delay in taking off, the plane reached an altitude of 3,200 feet when the birds collided with the plane, shutting down both engines and turning the heavy airliner into a glider.
“I’ve never been crazy about takeoffs and landings so I wasn’t paying much attention to the safety instructions from the flight attendant,” said Jones. “Now I do.”
Jones said the miracle of the event extended all the way to the pilot who was at the controls that day. Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger could not have been a better choice, he said, even though no one knew that until the birds hit the engines.
“He’s a retired Air Force fighter pilot, a glider pilot and a safety instructor. Just a month before the crash, he had conducted a safety workshop on water landings,” said Jones.
After the aircraft came to a stop in the Hudson River, Jones and his fellow passengers and the flight crew evacuated as quickly as possible and found themselves immersed in freezing water.
The wings were so icy that he couldn’t get a grip to pull himself out of the water and hypothermia set in quickly, said Jones. Eventually, he was hauled aboard a ferry and taken to shore and the first thing he did was borrow a cell phone to call his wife and tell her he was alive.
His experience has given him a new outlook on life.
“Keep life in perspective and be glad for every minute you have,” Jones advised.
After the meeting adjourned, Jones, a 1967 graduate of Jacksonville University, had a reunion with one of his mentors from college, JU Chancellor Emeritus Dr. Fran Kinne.
She commented on Jones’ 42-year career in medical association administration and the reunion was a heartfelt one.
“It’s a miracle he’s alive and so wonderful to see him again,” said Kinne. “Don would be a credit to any school.”
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