The American Lawyer has an interview with Venable partner James Hanks Jr., who was on board US Airways Flight 1549 when it landed in the Hudson River last Thursday.
The 65-year-old corporate partner works in the Baltimore office, and teaches at Cornell and Northwestern.
From the interview:
TAL: When did you realize on that flight that things had gone horribly wrong?
Hanks: About 90 seconds after takeoff there was this kind of small explosion or loud crack or snap — it seemed like a single sound — and then some smoke began to come into the aircraft.
TAL: I’d imagine that was a bit disconcerting.
Hanks: Right. That caused me to turn on the air above my seat. [The smoke] dissipated but more worrisome was the fact that there was no sound at all, which I knew meant that the engines had shut down.