Professor in Hudson plane crash still _¶ying

David Sontag wasn't hesitant to board a plane Friday to Chapel Hill. But he did request one minor change in seating.

""They asked me if I wanted a seat in the exit row"" said Sontag, one of the 155 passengers on the downed U.S. Airways Flight 1549. I told them that that sounded like a good idea.""

Sontag"74 the Wesley Wallace distinguished professor in the UNC communications department was sitting in the rear left of the plane as it was forced to take a crash landing into the Hudson River last Thursday.

Flying home from his brother's funeral Sontag's original direct flight from New York's LaGuardia Airport to Raleigh-Durham International Airport was cancelled.

Eager to return to Carolina" Sontag opted for a connecting flight passing through Charlotte.

""I've flown for 60 years"" said Sontag, who teaches screen and stage writing at UNC. It seemed like a normal takeoff.""

But just before the flight reached cruising altitude"" there was a loud bang on Sontag's side of the plane. He saw flames streaming from the engine.

""I told the person next to me" ‘The pilot's going to dump some fuel and take us back"'"" Sontag said" assuming only the left engine had failed.

The U.S. Transportation Safety Board's investigations have since shown that the engines on both sides of the plane failed simultaneously as a flock of birds collided with the plane.

Like a scene out of a disaster movie" the pilot announced the forthcoming impact landing. Sontag said everyone onboard remained calm.

""It was controlled chaos" he said. There was no pushing no shoving. Everyone just kept saying ‘Move move" move.'""

""And we did.""

Within three minutes" Sontag said all 155 passengers and the entire crew had evacuated the plane and awaited rescue from a squadron of boats.

Minutes later they were back in New York where a swarm of medical officials and media waited.

Sontag was soaked from the flood of water onboard the sinking plane and underwent a basic checkup at New York's Roosevelt Hospital.

But some passengers seemed unfazed" noted Sontag.

""One man only got wet up to his ankles" Sontag said. Several passengers were rescheduled on later flights Thursday evening.

U.S. Airways has expressed amazement on behalf of the swift actions of its crew and passengers.

Sontag agrees.

Everyone did just a fabulous job he said. He isn't fazed by the incident — though the sound of the landing gear dropping on his return trip did startle him — and he said he plans to travel by plane again this weekend.

It was such a freak accident" Sontag said. The odds of it happening again are so remote.""



Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.