U.S. Airways Flight 1549 Crash
Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 10:57AM in News, Photography, iPhone Update 
In an amazing display of citizen journalism, Janis Krums managed to snap this picture with his iPhone while his ferry was on it's way to help rescue passengers of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 after it had crashed in the Hudson River. I have reposted the image here because his original post on TwitPic was unavailable due to the high demand on their servers.
Twitter has been exploding with eye witness accounts of the crash. Apparently after take-off, the plane flew through a flock of geese, which destroyed both engines (a rather unprecedented accident). The pilot was attempting to turn the plane back to the airport but couldn't maintain altitude. Managing an excellent landing in the icy waters, the pilot was able to avoid a much more devastating accident.
It appears now as if all passengers have been rescued. Luckily nobody was seriously injured.
This photo captures the power of citizen journalism and the power of Twitter. Being able to spread this important event in an instantaneous way that doesn't rely on the location of the networks anchors and reporters works wonders for spreading new quickly. I hope more people buy iPhones and subscribe to Twitter. The world will be a more informed place.
Update: Here is a video clip of Janis Krums being interviewed on TV only 30 minutes after the photo above was taken.
Twitter User On MSNBC from AlleyInsider on Vimeo.
Reader Comments (6)
Fantastic picture. Thanks for the blog post, I would have missed it otherwise.
It was an experience for me last week twipiccing from the demonstration outside the Israeli embassy in London. This is the future eh?
Shame that mac are being so mean about the iphone.I'm on my 4th because of problems, now I've found a crack in the screen and they will not change it. It's only 2 months old. They want to charge me £200 to replace the screen.
I agree that this is the future. It's a fantastic thing being able to watch things as they unfold halfway across the country.
Personally, I'm on my second iPhone. First was stolen and then ransomed back to me. When I recovered it, I discovered the screen had been cracked! Then a couple days later, it got stolen again! People will take it, even if its broken. Crazy, huh?
Thanks for the comment!
That was awesome. I can't believe that we are living in this technologic age!
It's pretty amazing huh? I am blown away every day.
By the way, you should start logging in to post comments using Facebook or Disqus (sign up if you haven't). It makes it easier for me to manage posts.
And we'll get to see your cute little icon!
the iphone rules! that really is a pretty amazing photo
the iphone rules! that really is a pretty amazing photo