As Capt. Brittany Catanzaro eased her commuter ferry, the Thomas Kean, into the Hudson River, she saw an eye-popping sight: a US Airways jet, bobbing on the tide. "I couldn't believe it," said the 20-year-old, a captain for just five months. "But we train for man-overboard situations. Twice a month. And I knew what we had to do." The ...

As the US Airways plane hit the frigid waters of the Hudson River, emergency crews were already headed to the scene. And the swift, dramatic response had an amazing result: All the 155 people aboard were pulled to safety. Commuter ferries also sprang into action from New York and ...