{"id":2540,"date":"2016-10-12T10:42:12","date_gmt":"2016-10-12T15:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maryville.edu\/mpress\/?p=2540"},"modified":"2018-11-19T08:51:36","modified_gmt":"2018-11-19T14:51:36","slug":"alumna-miracle-hudson-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maryville.edu\/mpress\/alumna-miracle-hudson-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumna Shares Personal Story of ‘Miracle on the Hudson’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reading time: 4 minutes<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sure bet 91ÖÆƬ³§ alumna Elizabeth McHugh, \u201966, a member of the Golden Circle class honored during this fall’s\u00a0Alumni Weekend, had one of the most interesting \u2013 and frightful \u2013 stories to share with classmates. She was a passenger on the legendary US Airways Flight 1549 when it made an\u00a0emergency landing in the Hudson River.<\/p>\n

The incident was chronicled in the books Miracle on the Hudson<\/em> and Brace for Impact<\/em>, and in the film Sully<\/em>.<\/p>\n

At the time, McHugh was commuting regularly between North Carolina and New York for work, which placed her on that fateful flight. She vividly remembers the moments before the collision.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuddenly, we could feel the plane was no longer in an upward motion at all. On the left we could see skyscrapers getting taller and taller and we were going lower and lower.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWe were at about 2,800 feet and there was a loud explosion,\u201d McHugh says. \u201cThe plane shook and then settled a little. Most of us first thought, \u2018Well maybe one of the engines is gone, but we can fly back to LaGuardia with one engine.\u2019 After about three seconds, we realized there was no sound whatsoever,\u201d she remembers.<\/p>\n

Then, the plane began to descend quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuddenly, we could feel the plane was no longer in an upward motion at all. On the left we could see skyscrapers getting taller and taller and we were going lower and lower,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

McHugh believed she was going to die. \u201cWe were so close to the skyscrapers and the highway that runs along the Hudson River on that side, and that\u2019s where I thought we would be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plane veered to the left to avoid hitting the Washington Bridge, then crashed into the river a short time later.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am still alive. I am grateful for every minute of every day, for everything I have right now.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

McHugh was seated near the back. The exit behind her was blocked and water gushed in from a hole torn in the floor, but she and other passengers made it to the wings. She jumped five feet down into a raft filled with freezing water. Besides being cold, McHugh escaped the ordeal physically unscathed. However, the emotional and psychological impact has been profound; her sense of gratitude has grown immensely. She feels she saw the best of humanity that day, in the crew, the other passengers, and all of the rescuers and responders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am still alive. I am grateful for every minute of every day, for everything I have right now,\u201d McHugh says. The following year, she reprioritized her life and retired from her longtime project management position.<\/p>\n

She remembers thinking, \u201cI could go on working 14 hours a day, or I can retire a year early and have time to live this life I\u2019ve been given as a major gift.\u201d<\/p>\n

McHugh lives in South Carolina and now devotes her time to visiting family, especially her seven grandchildren. She often volunteers at the Carolinas Aviation Museum, where the \u201cSully\u201d plane \u2014 so named for the aircraft\u2019s pilot, Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger<\/a> \u2014 is on exhibit. She educates school groups about aviation safety and does other speaking engagements about the crash. In addition, she volunteers in a school health room where her sister works as a school nurse.<\/p>\n

McHugh has seen the movie Sully<\/em> and says it\u2019s mostly accurate.\u00a0\u201cIt was an intense, emotional experience to watch it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Surviving the crash of Flight 1549 was a transformative moment in McHugh\u2019s life. She says, \u201cI\u2019d like to think it turned me into a saint, but no \u2013 I\u2019m still very human.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This story also featured\u00a0in the Fall\u00a02016 edition of<\/em> Maryville Magazine.<\/p>\n

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