Top 10 Miraculous Rescues

Sixty-nine days after the collapse of the San Jose gold and copper mine, the first of 33 trapped Chilean miners were pulled up from a hole more than 2,000 feet underground. TIME looks back at other amazing rescues

Miracle on the Hudson

Top 10 Miraculous Rescues

Bebeto Matthews / AP

On Jan. 15, 2009, television viewers were glued to their sets. Yes, yes, there was the rare sight of a passenger jet bobbing in New York City's Hudson River on a frigid winter afternoon. But equally mesmerizing were images of passengers and crew members of US Airways Flight 1549 safely and quickly exiting the stalled aircraft. The culprit? A flock of geese that had gotten stuck in both of the plane's engines as it departed LaGuardia Airport. The plane's captain Chesley Sullenberger and first officer Jeffrey Skiles pulled off what is now regarded as the most successful ditching of a plane in aviation history.

See pictures from the one-year anniversary of the water landing.

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