"US Airways Flight 1549 Plane Crash Hudson in New York taken by Janis Krums on an iPhone" by davidwatts1978The January 15 crash-landing of US Airways flight 1549 dramatically demonstrated the value of cool heads and intense preparedness training in a time of disaster.
It also provided a real-life illustration of how modern technology can be used for more than trivial messages and inane video clips.
Passengers on the plane sent what some thought might be farewell messages to their families. Witnesses on the ground, in the metropolitan New York area, relayed the sights and sounds of the incident via text messaging and Twitter. Pictures, like the one above, were taken with cellphones, then shared on Flickr and other online photo-sharing sites.
Although emergency personnel were already aware of the situation, eyewitnesses were able to share information with the world-at-large in real time.
The public followed the unfolding drama and rejoiced at its happy ending.
“In this electronic age we see ourselves being translated more and more into the form of information, moving toward the technological extension of consciousness.” -Marshall McLuhan
