Exclusive | Inside NYC Circle Line captains Miracle on the Hudson rescue 16 years after water landing: Timing is everything

Michael Duffy was just two weeks into his new role as boat captain on the Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises when he gave the order rescue airline passengers following the “Miracle on the Hudson” emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549.“They were lucky,” Duffy told The Post this week, 16 years after that infamous Jan.15, 2009 water landing.

“Because a couple of days before, there was ice in the river and a couple of days after there was ice in the river. “Timing is everything,” added Duffy, now a five-decade employee of the Big Apple company.“It just happened to be clear, otherwise it would be a problem for the plane … It would’ve probably ripped the bottom open.”Flight 1549 took off from LaGuardia Airport in Queens and was en route to Charlotte, North Carolina when the plane struck a flock of Canada geese — causing engine failure and forcing pilot Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger to direct the plane on the Hudson River.FDNY officials told the newly-minted captain about the plane’s crash-landing in the Hudson as dozens of tourists were already boarding his boat for a scheduled trip, Duffy recalled.“My first official order was to throw 51 paying customers off the [Circle Line] boat,” he said.New York Waterways and Circle Line were the first to respond to the crash, with the tourist boats taking flight passengers aboard just minutes after the plane hit the water about 3:31 p.m.

The 155 airplane passengers escaped the aircraft on its wings and emergency slides.FDNY and NYPD first responders were transported aboard Duffy’s vessel to bring them closer to the plane; the boat also deployed three divers that went into the aircraft to check for any additional passengers — none were found.The main deck of the boat was used as a medical triage outpost with stretchers and stayed with the aircraft until the coast guard arrived.“The irony is, even with all the excitement that you think would be going on, you could hear a pin drop,” Duffy ...