Darling... I've had an accident

Captain Chesley Sullenberger’s incredible understatement came in a phone call to wife Lorrie just minutes after the escape made aviation history.

Describing the conversation from the family home in California yesterday, Mrs Sullenberger said: “I was stunned.

“At first I thought it was something minor, but then he told me the circumstances and my body started shaking and I rushed to get our daughters out of school.”

She added: “My body won’t stop shaking. I think he’s fine. I’m relieved.”

Last night, as the 57-year-old pilot’s heroic calmness won him the keys to New York City, more dramatic accounts of the “Miracle on the Hudson” emerged.

Survivors of US Airways Flight 1549 – en route from New York’s La Guardia airport to Charlotte, North Carolina, when it ditched – thought they would die on impact.

Even after they settled on the water they thought they would drown in the freezing Hudson River.

Last night, investigators were preparing to examine the plane’s flight recorders.

A three-year-old girl who was on the plane with her parents and nine-month old brother – the youngest survivor – recalled how their plane “turned into a boat”.

She added: “That’s not supposed to happen.”

Sophia Sosa, who escaped with baby Daniel and their father Martin and mother Tess, spent yesterday describing the adventure to family friends.

Recounting the ordeal, Mr Sosa said: “It was just like a scene in the movies. It’s great to be alive today, to be honest. It’s hard to believe we just survived that.

“We are forever grateful to the pilot and everyone who helped us”

Mrs Sosa said the initial impact – blamed on birds hitting the engines – was barely noticeable.

“There was sort of something hitting something else – it wasn’t super loud but it was clear something happened.

“At that point I was just yelling back to my daughter Sophia because I could hear my husband trying to brace her.

“She was saying, ‘Let me go’ and I was saying, ‘We’re going to be OK Sophia, we’re going to be OK’.

“The plane was descending slowly which really put me at ease. We could see the water and then it became obvious that we were heading straight to the water.”

Mr Sosa added: “There was an impact and I could hear my son crying – that was such a good sign to me.

“The next thing you know the water is coming into the cabin. It was horrendous. There were people jumping over one another. Some people were even going for their luggage.”

Survivor Vallie Collins told how she tapped out a desperate text to her husband Steve, who was in Tennessee, saying: “My plane is crashing.”

She added: “I thought, ‘OK, I’m not going to see my husband and three children again and I just want them to know at this point they were the No. 1 thought in my mind.”

Another passenger told how he managed to avoid hypothermia in the Hudson’s icy waters by borrowing a shirt from co-pilot Jeff Skiles.

One rescuer said he could not believe how calm Captain Sullenberger was after making a flawless “landing” on water.

“That guy is one cool customer. He was absolutely immaculate.” he said. “He just looked like David Niven in an aeroplane uniform.

“When I first saw him he was actually walking down the aisle making sure everyone was out.”

Last night New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg offered the hero pilot and his crew the keys to the city as he praised his landing of the Airbus A320.

“His brave actions have inspired millions of people in this city and millions more around the world.

He said the city’s “finest and bravest” workers had made “split-second decisions that resulted in a dramatic rescue”.

“Because of their efforts and the calm, steady leadership shown by the plane’s pilot and crew, miraculously all 155 people on that plane made it to safety.”