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Flight 1549 Passengers Challenge Flight Attendant's Story
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 6, 2009
Modified Jun 6, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 6, 2009
Modified Jun 6, 2009
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After Flight 1549 splash landed into the Hudson River in January—and with everyone surviving—one of the flight attendants, Doreen Welsh, said that a panicked passenger had pushed past her and opened up the rear door, sending water into the cabin. However, a few passengers have told the National Transportation Safety Board that Welsh was actually the one who opened the rear door.
Welsh, the only flight attendant in the back of the Airbus 320, told the Today Show in February, "I turned around to start guiding the people away, just then a passenger knocked me over and went and just wildly, I mean, she was just frantic and said, 'Open the door, open the door,' and she cracked the door. I had to take her and get her away, but she had put it up just enough that it broke the seal and that water came gushing in." She also testified with the same story to Congress (video); Welsh also told 60 Minutes she tried to re-close the door twice.
The NTSB is holding three days of hearings on Flight 1549 next week; board member Roger Sumwalt told the AP, "That's what we want to straighten out. We want to get [the passenger's] testimony on that, was it a passenger or a flight attendant?" The Association of Flight Attendants said Welsh was not able for comment and gave a statement, "While there may be conflicting reports regarding the exact actions of what happened immediately after crashing, the bottom line is that everyone was evacuated." Welsh suffered a deep laceration and her uniform was in shreds by the time she was rescued.
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Doreen Welsh
flight 1549
hudson river
splashlanding
us airways flight 1549
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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