Just for the record...

Nikos Gitsis, co-owner of Seair, just wants everyone to know that it was Seair owner Iren Dornier and he who first splashed their plane into the Hudson River. Been there, done that. Belat to you Sully!

And Nick has the photos to prove it!

(Flying near the Statue of Liberty)

(Landing in the Hudson River)
Twitter that Janis Krums!

In all seriousness though, the conditions under which Dornier and Nick landed their plane in the Hudson, were very much different than that of United Airways Flight 1549 of course. It was a much happier occasion as it was part of the World Tour of the DO-24ATT, an old seaplane built by Dornier's grandfather Claude Dornier (yes, yes, the aviation engineer/designer for Germany's Luftwaffe) and restored by Iren in 2003. The tour was meant to raise funds for UNICEF's programs on child education and lasted from 2005-2007.

Btw, the seaplane (if you look closely, it is actually registered in the Philippines) did land in the Hudson River in Aug. 2005, according to old press reports. Hmmm...I wonder if Nick and Iren will get their own Facebook fanpage now.

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In a related note, Miracle on the Hudson hero Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III and his crew of five, as well as their families, have been invited to participate in the Miracle in Washington DC, i.e. the inaugural ceremony for U.S. President-elect Barack Obama. (Matt Lauer of NBC's Today show is said to have snagged the first press interview of Capt. Sullenberger supposedly today. Hopefully, it will be shown on local cable TV (Ch. 19) this morning.)

Gads! This is soooo exciting! I'm so looking forward to watching the inaugural ceremony later. I believe the telecasts on CNN and the BBC begin at 6 pm. I can't wait 'til George Bush goes bye-bye! What was that old Dick Van Patten show on Ch. 7 back in the day? Ah yes, EIGHT IS ENOUGH!

Right now, I'm channel surfing as all the U.S. TV networks' morning shows are broadcasting from DC near the venue of the event. Our own Jessica Soho (GMA7) and Charrie Villa (ABS-CBN) are also supposedly covering the ceremony, although I dunno how close they can get in their coverage. But sana it will be live and not just a phone patch like one local TV network did during the November election in the U.S.

(Btw, did anyone watch the reruns of Soho's old interview w/ Cristeta Comerford, the executive chef at the White House? Chef Cris kinda looked masungit and impatient in answering Soho's questions. I wonder if she got bitten by the old fly-on-the-carabao bug. Tsk, tsk.)