Flight 1549

Only a few blocks from where I am staying in New York, U.S. Airways Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River. At around 3:30 p.m., the television flashed the breaking news. Police sirens blasted throughout the city and continued to do so, with less frequency, three hours later. As soon as the plane hit the water, commuter ferries were dispatched to the crash site. The ferry operators, Coast Guard, police, firefighters, paramedics and countless others worked quickly and seamlessly. All 155 people were taken off the plane, brought ashore in either New York or New Jersey, and sent to hospitals for treatment. At 5:54 p.m., Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gov. David Paterson, and other leaders held a press conference to tell the world what they knew and what they didn't know.

With great respect for the pending investigation of the National Transportation Safety Board, Bloomberg described what anyone watching the television would have seen for themselves-an impressive rescue effort resulting from the synergies of government and civilian services working hand-in-hand. Everyone survived, thanks in large part to the grace of a seasoned pilot. An excited survivor summed his experience up in one rambling sentence: "I'm just really excited to be alive."

Just more than seven years ago, the story of a low-flying passenger plane did not end like this in New York. According to Paterson, the brother of one of the passengers on this flight died on Sept. 11. There's no question that the same heroes from those harrowing days played that same role today, facing, instead, a sinking plane and frigid waters.

This is the way society should work. First-responders, both civilians and professionals, were nothing short of amazing. In a time marked by such lasting tragedies as Hurricane Katrina, Thursday night's blessing may be even more stunning in its display of cooperation. Only in New York could a passenger jet be securely tied up to the pier off Manhattan.

Elad Gross is Trinity junior. His column runs on Fridays.