'Miracle on the Hudson' passenger speaks at Red Cross fundraiser

Tom Hanks stars as Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot who safely landed his plane in the Hudson River, saving the lives of 155 crew and passengers.

In this Jan. 15, 2009, file photo, airline passengers wait to be rescued on the wings of a US Airways Airbus 320 jetliner that safely ditched in the frigid waters of the Hudson River in New York, after a flock of birds knocked out both its engines.(Photo: Steven Day, AP)

Every day there are unsung heroes who impact the community by giving of themselves, while others are known for courage shown in split-second decisions. Both those types of people were spotlighted Wednesday at the annual Heart of Red Cross Heroes Breakfast held in The Grove at Williamson Place

Former state Rep. John Hood was honored for his many years of community service and Dave Sanderson, a passenger on the plane crash known as “Miracle on the Hudson,” served as keynote speaker.

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Dave Sanderson served as guest speaker Wednesday morning at the Heart of Tennessee Red Cross Heroes Breakfast. Sanderson was key in making sure all passengers exited safely on Flight 1549, the 'Miracle on the Hudson.'(Photo: Jim Davis/For the DNJ)

“It’s my privilege to live and work in this community all my life,” Hood told the crowd of about 300. “I just tried to put back, hopefully, to make this a better place in which to live and work.”

Following Hood’s acceptance speech, Sanderson shared his harrowing story as it unfolded on Jan. 15, 2009, when U.S. Airways Flight 1549 narrowly landed on the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey. The plane was en route from LaGuardia Airport in New York City to Charlotte, N.C., where Sanderson lived.

“Another tragedy could have happened up in New York City. Instead, a miracle occurred there. There were 155 passengers on U.S. Airways Flight 1549. I was one of those,” Sanderson said, explaining that faith and the impact of the American Red Cross were two key themes from the life-altering moments after the plane crash.

Just a minute into the flight, Sanderson said he heard a loud explosion and looked out the window to see fire coming out of the left wing. On the other side, the same thing had happened.

“It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop,” Sanderson recalled.

Both engines were gone, forcing pilot Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and his copilot, Jeffrey Skiles, to land the plane in the narrow channel of the Hudson River.

As the plane started to bank, Sanderson assumed they would head back to the airport. But the pilots knew they wouldn’t make it and the river was the best option for gliding the plane into the river.

“The only words (Sully) said the entire time on the plane were, ‘This is your captain, brace for impact,’" Sanderson recalled. If you ever hear that on a plane, something’s going down and it’s going down fast.”

Sanderson said the plane hit the water at a speed between 100 mph and120 mph.

“That was the moment that everything I’d ever learned and everything I’d ever trained for came into play,” said Sanderson, the former head of security for internationally known motivational speaker Tony Robbins. “So the next time you face what I call your own personal plane crash … survive and thrive from it instead of going into a depressed state.”

Preparation is key to having the confidence to execute in life-altering situations, he said.

Dave Sanderson of Charlotte, N.C., lies in a hospital bed of Palisades Medical Center after surviving the crash of US Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River Jan. 15, 2009 in North Bergen, New Jersey. The Airbus 320 craft crashed shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport on its way to Charlotte, North Carolina.(Photo: Getty Images)

Once they cleared the Washington Bridge, Sanderson said he prayed, “Whoever that captain is, man, just get me down in one piece.” He made sure his wife knew she loved him. And he prayed to God to forgive his sins.

“We were going down and I wanted to go up,” he joked.

The plane landed and began to quickly fill up with water. Sanderson said his late mother’s wisdom rang in his ears: “If you do the right thing, God will take care of you.”

“The right thing for me was to take care of other people first,” Sanderson said.

While many passengers were making their way to the wings of the floating plane, he headed back to make sure others were safe.

Once he made it to the wing, there was no room for him on the wing or the rescue boats, but something caught his eye that made him know he was in the right place.

"It was a lady and she was holding onto a baby. I found out later she had two kids on that plane. She had a 3-year-old on that life boat, a 3-month-old she was holding onto, and she wasn't moving,” Sanderson said. “I yelled, ‘Throw the baby, throw the baby!’ She short of looked at me like, ‘What?’”

He knew if she tried to exit the plane, she might slip and the fast-moving current could mean the end for the baby. Another woman turned around and took the baby to safety and the mother was able to get into a life boat.

Later, the mother sent him a package with a thank-you note and a photograph of Sully and the infant.

Sanderson said he learned a lot from those moments on the Hudson, including how valuable some of life’s smallest lessons can be.

“Just think … if my parents hadn’t gotten me swimming lessons from the Red Cross when I was a child,” Sanderson said. “All these things we learned 40, 50, 60 years ago, one day you may have to use that one thing to say yourself or somebody else.”

When Sanderson finally made it to shore, he was greeted by two EMTs and a member from the New Jersey Red Cross. As he arrived off the plane to his awaiting family back home, the CEO of the Red Cross in Charlotte, N.C., was standing with his family to greet him.

Since that day, Sanderson has been a big proponent of the Red Cross. And he encouraged the crowd that morning to pledge support, too.

“There are a lot of groups that touched a lot of people that day. But there were only two groups that touched everyone — the ferries and the Red Cross,” Sanderson said.