Pilot describes ‘New Year’s miracle’ plane crash, rescue
Published: January 5, 2006
The two pilots whose plane went down in the Hudson River on Monday stood on the wings of the downed aircraft screaming and waving their arms trying to attract the attention of a nearby barge crew just before the plane slipped beneath the near-freezing water and sank, one of the men said yesterday.
Less than 27 hours after the potentially fatal accident, pilot John Eberle — who doesn’t know how to swim — walked out of the hospital where he was treated for a mild case of hypothermia.
“I really think we’re looking at a New Year’s miracle,” said Dr. Sheldon Teperman, head of the trauma unit at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. “The clock was ticking on these gentlemen’s lives.” Teperman added that the U.S. Geological Service’s Web site listed the water temperature as below 40 degrees Monday.
An upbeat and flush-faced Eberle gave credit to his rescuers, his co-pilot and the hospital staff while giving a detailed account of the incident to a large group of reporters in the hospital lobby before he checked out yesterday.
Eberle, 42, and his co-pilot, Mark Sorey, 44, both survived Monday’s emergency landing after the Piper Warrior they were flying lost power off the Yonkers shore shortly before noon.
The men, both New Jersey residents, met three days before Monday’s flight, after Sorey contacted Eberle for an annual pilot recertification, during which they discussed emergency landing procedures. Eberle said Monday’s flight was for Sorey to familiarize himself with the Hudson Valley corridor because his church had raffled off a free plane ride that was won by a 13-year-old boy.
Eberle spoke of how he made the decision to put the plane down in the river rather than try to bring it closer to the shore when the engine sputtered and died just after they passed the George Washington Bridge heading north.
“We were playing for keeps,” Eberle said. “We didn’t say that we were. We didn’t say, ‘What are we going to do now?’ We just went for it.”
The plane was moving at just faster than 100 mph about 1,000 feet above the water when the engine died, Eberle said. While Sorey tried to restart the engine, Eberle radioed for help.
“At this point, I’m contacting emergency — ‘Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, Piper Warrior, one mile north GW Bridge, engine failure, going down.’ ”
Eberle, a professional flight instructor, then took the controls from Sorey, who also is a licensed pilot, and decided to try landing near a barge.
“As we were coming in, we decided to stay straight and level. This would give us the most time to try and restart and also it made more sense rather than try to get to land — that could jeopardize somebody in a building, somebody in a car. We don’t need to bring others into it,” Eberle said. When they were about 300 feet above the water, Eberle slowed the plane down, let the flaps fully out and kept the nose up.
“I think it was about 30 knots with the stall horn blowing off when we hit the water,” he said.
The plane bounced briefly then came to a stop. Neither of them suffered any injuries.
“And then once the plane hit the water, we were on to the next task. I mean, ‘That’s it, get out of the plane,’” he said.
The men, maintaining their composure, scrambled out onto the wings of the sinking plane.
“Mark, staying calm, reached into his pocket, takes out his cell phone and dials 911,” Eberle said. “I mean, it was beautiful. And then from there, a couple of minutes later the plane went under. Once the engine was down, the tail went up — it was only a few seconds. We climbed to the top of the tail, but that didn’t help too much. It was under water.”
Shortly thereafter, the men saw helicopters fly by without spotting them.
“A few did come by, obviously didn’t see us, didn’t slow down, didn’t come down,” Eberle said. “As they passed, we were like, ‘Maybe the next one.’ ” After a few minutes, Sorey said he was going to head in the direction of the barge.
“Mark said he was going to swim to it. I didn’t say, ‘no,’ I didn’t say, ‘I’m with you.’ I can’t swim too well,” Eberle said. “At that point, I did the back float, he swam, and the next thing you know the helicopters came and got us.”
Eberle said he hasn’t spoken directly with Sorey, who is expected to be released from the hospital today, but is planning on attending church services with him. He added that estimates on the amount of time they were in the water ranged from 15 minutes to 45, but felt more like 45 to him.
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash, and the plane had not yet been recovered as of late yesterday, a spokesman said.
• See also: Heroic Hudson rescue
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