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Co-pilot Braved Frigid Waters to Retrieve Vests for Passengers (Our Hometown Boy Did Good!)
JSOnline ^ | January 16, 2009 | Stacy Forster

Posted on 01/16/2009 4:51:37 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin

Oregon, WI - The water in the Hudson River was so cold Thursday afternoon that US Airways co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles' legs were immediately numb, his wife said today.

Barbara Skiles said her husband, 49, was walking through the plane to find more life vests for people who had exited without them. The quick response from New York City's police and fire departments, as well as ferries and other boats that helped bring passengers to safety, was a key reason no one was injured or killed, she said.

All 155 passengers on the US Airways flight were rescued and brought to safety after the plane hit a flock of birds following takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport, lost power to both engines and had to land in the Hudson River.

"He did say that it was amazing the help that they got; how quickly boats were at the side of the airplane," she said.

Barbara Skiles said her husband lost his cell phone in the incident but used a borrowed phone to call her with news about the accident.

"'We had to ditch the plane in the Hudson, I want you to know I'm OK and I think we got everybody off OK,'" she said he told her. She said she's spoken with him a couple more times from his hotel room, but isn't sure when he'll be home.

"I think it's still sinking in," she said of how he's feeling. "He just really doesn't know how things are going to happen from here."

Jeffrey Skiles got his private pilot's license when he was a teenager and has been flying professionally since his early 20s, spending the past 23 years flying for US Airways, Barbara Skiles said.

Barbara Skiles and the couple's three children, ages 17, 15 and 12, spent Thursday evening watching TV coverage for more news about the incident, and were hoping media attention dies down soon so they can get back to their normal lives.

"We're so grateful," she said, fighting back tears. "Not just for Jeff but for everybody on the plane."

She said she's always worried more about Jeffrey Skiles driving to airports in Chicago and Milwaukee than flying.

"If you're going to be in an airplane disaster, you couldn't ask for a better ending," she said.


TOPICS: Local News; Travel
KEYWORDS: pilot; skiles; usairways
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To: Lizavetta
Thank goodness there wasn’t an affirmative action pilot at the controls.

You mean a Negro?

21 posted on 01/16/2009 5:18:47 PM PST by Doe Eyes
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To: Man50D

If Reagan honored him at the State address, I guess that means he didn’t die. Seriously, he lived and they made a TV movie that centered on him. He worked out a lot and said that’s why he could do what he did.


22 posted on 01/16/2009 5:25:19 PM PST by Terry Mross (Is this our last REAL Christmas?)
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To: big'ol_freeper

Everyone should read this gripping, inspiring account of Flight 90! You’ll certainly be glad you did.

Thanks to big’ol_freeper for giving us this link earlier in the thread:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Florida_Flight_90


23 posted on 01/16/2009 5:55:23 PM PST by Golddigger3
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To: Diana in Wisconsin
The quick response from New York City's police and fire departments, as well as ferries and other boats that helped bring passengers to safety, was a key reason no one was injured or killed, she said.

ah. pesky evil capitalist yachters and customers. They owe Gore some carbon credits for this rescue.(/s)

24 posted on 01/16/2009 5:59:42 PM PST by JudgemAll (control freaks, their world & their problem with my gun and my protecting my private party)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin; The Invisible Hand; Lady GOP; Man50D; null and void; Red_Devil 232; ...

Everyone should read this gripping, inspiring account of Flight 90! You’ll certainly be glad you did.

Thanks to big’ol_freeper for giving us this link earlier in the thread:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Florida_Flight_90


25 posted on 01/16/2009 6:00:58 PM PST by Golddigger3
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To: JudgemAll
The quick response from New York City's police and fire departments

Lucky they didn't land off the shores of Chicago. Last April a semi flipped my Jeep on the Dan Ryan Expressway just North of downtown. It took the ambulance at least 20 minutes to get to me with no traffic.

I asked the parametic if it had been a life-threatening situation would they have come earlier - he said no!

26 posted on 01/16/2009 6:06:29 PM PST by Golddigger3
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To: JudgemAll
Hey AlGore has his houseboat! He dubbed it Bio-Solar One (B.S. One). Heheeheee B.S. One! The engines are bio-diesel fueled and probably gelled up right now!
27 posted on 01/16/2009 6:14:09 PM PST by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: Lady GOP

Thanks!


28 posted on 01/16/2009 6:16:02 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: Lizavetta

“Thank goodness there wasn’t an affirmative action pilot at the controls.”

Well, Silly. You can tell those crashes by the LACK of survivors! ;)


29 posted on 01/16/2009 6:18:54 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

Nothing on your guy but more on the pilot:

Fortunately for the 150 passengers aboard Flight 1549, Sullenberger also happens to be one of the aviation community’s foremost safety experts - and he’s a certified glider pilot.

A day after the amazing incident, Sullenberger was in good spirits and showing no outward signs of stress from the ordeal, a pilots union official said.

Sullenberger, 57, has four decades of flight experience under his belt, including a stint as an Air Force fighter pilot.


30 posted on 01/16/2009 6:27:34 PM PST by Lady GOP
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

One of the pilots literally gave the shirt off his back to one of the passengers who was about to go into shock because of the cold water - showed the guy on TV today still searing the shirt with the pilot’s rank insignia on the epaulets - at last a couple of genuine heroes the country can really admire, unlike certain vastly overblown phonies like the one about to be inaugurated president who shall go nameless.......


31 posted on 01/16/2009 7:03:36 PM PST by Intolerant in NJ
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

I just found out this morning that the pilot graduated from Purdue University in 1973 in psycology so he has some Hoosier roots too.


32 posted on 01/16/2009 8:34:00 PM PST by Donna in Decatur (DONNA IN DECATUR)
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To: Donna in Decatur
Now that's a winning combination, Badger + Hoosier. (Except in competitive sports, of course! :)
33 posted on 01/17/2009 4:48:00 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: null and void

*gasp*
I’m feeling a little faint, what with all the chocolate references on this thread.

*help*

*thunk*


34 posted on 01/17/2009 9:01:27 AM PST by Monkey Face (If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat?)
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To: Monkey Face

I’ll save you Nell!


35 posted on 01/17/2009 9:15:25 AM PST by null and void (Hey 0bama, now that you've caught the car, what are you going to do with it, hmmm?)
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To: null and void

My hero!

*swoon*


36 posted on 01/17/2009 9:20:22 AM PST by Monkey Face (If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat?)
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To: Monkey Face

*catch*


37 posted on 01/17/2009 9:33:29 AM PST by null and void (Hey 0bama, now that you've caught the car, what are you going to do with it, hmmm?)
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To: null and void

Wh..where am I?
Am I alive?
*sigh*


38 posted on 01/17/2009 9:35:16 AM PST by Monkey Face (If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat?)
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To: Monkey Face

You are in heaven, or my arms. It’s hard to tell the difference sometimes...


39 posted on 01/17/2009 9:43:01 AM PST by null and void (Hey 0bama, now that you've caught the car, what are you going to do with it, hmmm?)
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To: null and void

You have the chocolate, right?
I know where I am, then... ;o]


40 posted on 01/17/2009 9:45:49 AM PST by Monkey Face (If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat?)
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