Survivor Of 1st 'Miracle On Hudson' Grateful To Sully — Reacts To 2nd 'Miracle,' As 2 Swim To Shore Monday

NORTH FORK, NY — Headlines this week about a "second miracle on the Hudson" — as a Southampton pilot and his student landed safely and swam to shore through the icy river — brought back a flood of memories for a Cutchogue man who survived the first "Miracle on the Hudson" in 2009.

Bill Zuhoski was one of 155 people onboard saved by the heroism of pilot Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger during that flight.

On Monday night, Gov. Kathy Hochul declared "another miracle on the Hudson": Two people aboard a Cessna 172 crashed into the icy Hudson River, about an hour after taking off from Long Island MacArthur Airport; they are in stable condition, the Town of Newburgh Emergency Medical Services said in a Facebook post.

State police later identified the pair as a flight instructor, Liam Darcy, 31, of Southampton, and a 17-year-old student from Locust Valley.

Zuhoski said the news brought back his own experience in 2009: "It's tough not to think about it when the news flash is, 'Plane crashes in Hudson River,'" he said.

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 cold 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 frigid 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."

Since that fateful flight, the flight he survived, Zuhoski told Patch in a prior interview that he had 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."

After the most recent Hudson River miracle, Zuhoski told Patch that his own memories remain vivid and real, filling him with eternal gratitude.

"I feel extremely blessed with the life I have been given and for the family it has allowed me to create in the years since 2009. I will be forever thankful for Sully and his crew for their actions that day," he said.

And to the survivors of Monday's crash, Zuhoski said: "Very nice to see a happy ending come out of something so scary! Watching the news these days, there is not much positive to speak about — so it was nice to hear how this turned out."