'Sully' Plane Crash Survivor Speaks On DC Disaster: 'It's Terrible'

NORTH FORK, NY — News of a devastating plane crash over the Potomac River left the nation stunned and heartbroken. And for one Cutchogue resident, word of the crash brought back memories still vivid, even after 16 years.

In 2009, Bill Zuhoski was one of 155 people onboard US Airways flight 1549 saved by the heroism of pilot Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger.

Zuhoski told Patch that the news of Wednesday night's crash in DC was a grim and heartbreaking reminder of what could have been: On Thursday, about 300 search-and-rescue experts from the Washington, D.C., region continued to search for the bodies of those killed in the collision of a passenger jet and Army Blackhawk helicopter over the Potomac River.

The American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew members onboard collided with the helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday.

"It was a terrible thing that happened," Zuhoski said, of the crash. "I don’t feel too strong a correlation between this, and our crash 16 years ago, as we didn’t collide with another aircraft. But anytime any tragedy happens now — aircraft-related or not — it makes me appreciate the fact that I am still here."

Back in 2009, Zuhoski was just 23, on his way to join a birthday celebration — and, after boarding in LaGuardia, the plane hit a flight of Canada geese and lost engine power, sending the plane and all passengers plunging into the icy depths below. That crash, too, took place on a bitter January day — January 15, a day friends and family still mark as Zuhoski's "second-chance birthday."

He is one of the very few who can describe what it is like to have been in a plane that was sent spiraling into an icy river, yet lived to tell his story.

In an interview after the crash in 2009 with the Independent, Zuhoski, who had fallen asleep in his seat, awoke to find himself in a terrifying situation. "Everyone knew what was happening. There was a feeling that these were the last people you were going to see," he said in the report.

And, he told the Independent, as the plane went down, his thoughts went to his loved ones. "The guy on my left grabbed my arm, and we interlinked arms," he said. "The moment of impact hit hard. . . My head slammed forward onto the seat and my glasses blew off. . . I couldn't believe I was alive."

Unlike Zuhoski's story, no one is believed to have survived the D.C. crash. The enormity of that tragedy has not escaped Zuhoski.

Since that fateful flight, the flight he survived, Zuhoski said he has gotten married. "Now, I have three beautiful children, who are my whole world. I couldn’t imagine my life without them, or their lives without having me around."

Of his survival, he said: "It really was a miracle. I'm happy to be here, to talk about it."

And yet, his heart aches, a physical pain, for those suffering after Wednesday's crash.

"My prayers are just with all the families that this has impacted," he said. "I hope that they can find peace."

With reporting by David Allen.