A New Jersey couple is lucky to be alive after ditching their single-engine Piper Cherokee Six in the frigid Hudson River on Sunday night about five miles north of the George Washington Bridge.
Yonkers police officers responded to 911 calls by boat, rescuing the couple about 20 minutes after the airplane went into the water. The victims were calling for help and were in a state of near shock after being saved, according to news reports. They were in stable condition at a local hospital after being treated for hypothermia.
The 1967 Piper PA-32 sank soon after rescuers reached the airplane. The six-seater is registered to an owner in Manalapan, New Jersey, who reportedly had just sold the Piper to the couple. The pair had taken off from Trenton-Robbinsville Airport in New Jersey on a VFR sightseeing flight, according to the FAA.
The ditching comes four years after the “Miracle on the Hudson” flight by Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger of his US Airways Airbus A320 from LaGuardia Airport.
