Mariners sailing aboard SIU-contracted NY Waterway ferries have performed more than 100 rescues since the company’s founding in 1986.
In terms of uniqueness and elation, they may never top the one they executed last month on the Hudson River.
The dramatic story quickly became known as the “miracle on the Hudson,” and it generated worldwide news coverage. Several SIU members were interviewed by prominent television stations and newspapers. They consistently downplayed any notion that their efforts were heroic, but New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), NY Waterway officials, and passengers from both the airplane and the boats showered the mariners with praise, as did others. “Millions of Americans across the country are saluting the bravery and courage they [demonstrated],” said Lautenberg.
Seafarers (and NY Waterway boats) involved in the rescue included the following:
From the George Washington, Captain Mohamed Gouda and Deckhands Jose Torres, Pepe Carumba and Gregorio Pages. They rescued one.Seafarers aboard NY Waterway vessels transport tens of thousands of passengers each day, most of them commuters. The crews perhaps had been best known for their indisputably heroic roles in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when they evacuated upwards of 160,000 people from Manhattan. A few of the NY Waterway boats operated into the pre-dawn hours of the next day, providing help for emergency crews. Several SIU members rescued people who had fallen from piers into the water, most likely because of terrible visibility.
Currently, the company operates approximately 25 ferries. The 120 or so Seafarers employed by NY Waterway are covered by a three-year contract which was ratified in the spring of 2008. Many of them have completed safety training at the SIU-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education, which is located in Piney Point, Md.
Participants and witnesses from last month’s rescue described a surreal happiness. Not only were all personnel saved from the plane, only one serious injury was reported. A female passenger from the jet reportedly suffered broken legs.
The incident is under investigation, but early indications were that a flock of birds struck the airplane (Flight 1549), thereby disabling the engines. The pilot quickly decided to set the plane (originally headed from New York’s LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte, N.C.) down in the Hudson. His plan worked, but experts noted that because of the cold water, passengers wouldn’t have survived for long without virtually immediate assistance.
Cue the Thomas Jefferson and Seafarer Lombardi, who at first thought the partially submerged plane was an odd-looking boat. After a second look and a message received on marine radio, he realized what had happened.
“We hit the throttles, got the man-overboard equipment ready and let the (ferry) passengers know what was happening,” Lombardi told the Seafarers LOG. “We got there in about 90 seconds. The equipment was deployed and ready.”
A six-year SIU member who in 2003 completed safety training at the Paul Hall Center, Lombardi said he battled the current while giving first priority to the airplane passengers who were partially submerged.
Asked how he remained calm, Lombardi cited the regular safety drills completed by NY Waterway personnel along with “faith. It was a challenge with that current, but I knew people’s lives depended on what we did. More than anything else, I can’t credit my crew enough. They were unreal the way they handled it.” (See sidebar below.)
Many additional ferries and rescue vessels reached the plane within the next 10 minutes. The head of the public safety department for the city of Weehawken, N.J., told reporters that emergency medical service workers, fire fighters and police officers boarded NY Waterway boats in Weehawken immediately following the airplane’s emergency landing.
NY Waterway has a terminal at West 39th Street in Manhattan, a few blocks from where the plane crashed near West 48th Street.
Lucante told an Associated Press reporter that after he and Starr had assisted airplane passengers to the Yogi Berra, they went one figurative step further.
“We wound up giving them our coats and our hats,” Lucante said. “We were down to our T-shirts by the time we got back.”
Catanzaro, recently featured in the New York Times because she is the first female captain at NY Waterway, typified the modesty of the mariners when she told the Jersey Journal, “I don’t consider myself a hero. It’s my job. We train for it.”
‘The Training Prevailed’
The SIU ferry captain whose boat was the first to arrive after US Airways Flight 1549 crash-landed in the Hudson River said regular safety training and drills played a big part in the ensuing rescue.
Seafarer Vincent Lombardi, one of many NY Waterway boatmen who have completed safety classes as the SIU-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education (located in Piney Point, Md.), pointed out that crews routinely practice for emergencies aboard the ferries.
“We do man-overboard drills, fire drills and abandon-ship drills,” Lombardi stated. “Since 9/11, we also do security drills, plus others. Each captain runs his crew through all of those drills once a month.”
The Seafarers’ collective prompt, efficient, composed response reflected preparation, noted Lombardi and others who were interviewed afterward. Altogether, 14 SIU-crewed NY Waterway ferries were engaged in the operation. Seven pulled aboard personnel from the aircraft.
“The training prevailed,” Lombardi said. “All the training showed because my guys remained calm.”
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