(Feb. 5) - Hero pilot Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger says the moments after both engines of US Airways Flight 1549 lost power were the worst of his life.
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He told Katie Couric in a CBS "60 Minutes" interview it was "the worst sickening, pit-of-your-stomach, falling-through-the-floor feeling" he's ever had.
Sullenberger said his first reaction when birds flew into the plane's engines was disbelief.
He glided the Airbus A320 over the George Washington Bridge and into the Hudson River. All 155 people aboard survived.
The captain praised New York City's first responders. He said "thank you seems totally inadequate" and he has "a debt of gratitude" he fears he may never be able to repay.
The interview is scheduled to air at 7 p.m. EST Sunday.
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Earlier Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration released recordings in which Sullenberger calmly radios to air traffic controllers, "We're going to be in the Hudson."
The audio recordings reflect the initial tension between tower controllers and the cockpit and then confusion about whether the passenger jet went into the river.
"Emergency inbound," one tower controller says as he tries to arrange for the stricken plane to land at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.
"Can I get him in for Runway One?" the controller at La Guardia asks the tower at Teterboro.
"Runway One, that's good," says the tower controller at Teterboro.
"1529 turn right two-eight-zero" for Teterboro, the tower at LaGuardia orders the plane's pilot.
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"We can't do it," replies the plane's pilot.
"Which runway would you like at Teterboro?" asks the tower at LaGuardia.
"We're going to be in the Hudson," the pilot replies.
"I'm sorry, say again," an air traffic controller responded after hearing the pilot's message that he was ditching the Airbus A320.
There was no response from the aircraft.
