This is the kind of photo I could probably post without wasting too many words on. If you ever wondered what kind of perks a first class ticket will get you, then think about the coach class passengers up to their knees in freezing cold water, watching the first class passengers take a comfortable seat in the raft.
I wonder whether any of the first class passengers demanded some hot nuts and a drink?
(Photo from Calacanis.com)
Poor jet. First it takes a dip in the Hudson river, then it has to be hoisted out of the water, and now its next trip involves passing through Jersey City on a flatbed truck.
A CNN iReporter was able to grab a couple of video clips of the wingless jet making an extremely tight turn through the city, without knocking over any traffic lights or other obstacles.
The plane is on its way to an NTSB location in New Jersey, where it will be examined for the possible cause of the January 15th crash.
Don’t forget to check out our other coverage of the US Airways flight 1549 crash.
(Via: CNN iReport)
Maybe it’s too soon for this, but there’s already a popular online game inspired by the recent emergency landing on the Hudson River. “Hero on the Hudson” isn’t terribly sophisticated, but it gets the point across. You are in the left seat, acting as US Airways Flight 1549 pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. Your plane is headed toward the Hudson River, and you need to take action.
This free game was put together by Orb Games Ltd. The company, which is based in Kiev, Ukraine, has been around since 2006 and is responsible for such popular (and viral) titles as “Duke Nukem Endangered Species,” “Star Wars Galaxies” and “Vivisector: Beast Inside.” Orb also developed games for Nintendo DS and Sony’s Playstation and PSP consoles.
According to company CEO Andriy Sharanevych, the “Hero on the Hudson” was created around a week and a half ago, only days after Sully brought his bird down west of Manhattan. Sharanevych claims that the miracle of the event is what prompted the game’s development: “We just wanted people to understand and not to forget that this is not for granted, so we tried to make a game that would remind everyone about this miraculous event.”
I know I’m a cynic, and I do wonder if this is just convenient admiration to mask just a bit of opportunism (which I really don’t fault anyway). Apparently, I’m not alone.
Find out what users think after the jump, and take your own shot at the landing!Sharanevych has received mixed feedback from users, many of whom have considered the game “heartless.” But, the CEO defends himself with the scripted monologue, “[W]e deliberately made it very simple to make a successful landing in the game, as this is the game about the miracle and not a tragedy. You can play a role of a pilot, who will save hundreds of lives behind him and bring joy, happiness and hope to millions of people.”
Stunt or salute, it’s definitely brought home results. “Hero on the Hudson was played more than 1.5 million times in the first week it was available. And, more traffic is expected.
Read the entire interview with Sharanevych here.
View our ongoing coverage of Flight 1549.
Ready to play? Click and hold with your mouse, then move it around to try to swing the plane into a safer landing position.
If you’ve got a trip planned to Southern California this weekend, it might be a good idea to reschedule. Besides the current poor air quality and the fact that you might need to outrun a wildfire, many attractions and amusement parks have shut down until the smoke clears.
SeaWorld, Legoland, and the San Diego Wild Animal Park are all closed (although the San Diego Zoo remains open). Broadway San Diego and the Old Globe Theatre have both canceled shows. Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, which is closed on weekdays anyway this time of year, is “monitoring the situation” and as of now plans to open its gates on Friday.
The list of state parks that are closed is too long to repeat here: check the California State Parks website or read the L.A. Times article.
US Air is also waiving some fees for anyone traveling to or from SoCal who will have to change their flights due to the fires.