With temperatures hovering around 20 degrees, U.S. Airways Flight 1549 took off this afternoon from New York’s LaGuardia Airport.  Minutes later, the Airbus carrying 155 people crashed into the Hudson river near the Lincoln Tunnel.  A flock of birds, possibly, flew into the jet’s engines and caused them to fail.  Thanks to a stellar response by the pilot, emergency organizations and nearby ferry boats, all of those aboard the plane were rescued. 

The outcome was far different 27 years ago, on another January day.  Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the Potomac River minutes after takeoff from Washington’s National Airport.  Only five of the 79 persons on board survived. 

There were other differences between the two crashes. The Air Florida crash had the additional misfortune to occur on the same day that a subway train derailment killed 3 people, injured 25 and tied up many emergency resources.  Before plunging into the river, the jet struck four cars on the 14th Street Bridge, thereby obstructing a key artery connecting Washington with Virginia. 

For passengers who survived the initial impact, the odds were not good. The multi-jurisdictional response force was poorly equipped and responders frequently could not even communicate  with each other. 

In the years that followed, investigators and researchers studied the Florida 90 crash, picking through the facts for ways to prevent crashes and better ways to respond.  The Florida 90 crash led to improvements in cockpit management,  better interagency coordination and increased awareness of the need for interoperable communications.  Quite possibly, the lessons learned from the loss of 74 lives in 1982 helped to save 155 other lives, almost 27 years to the day, in 2009.

But, lessons can be forgotten and many lessons remain to be learned.  Through its online database, the Disaster Accountability Project seeks to keep valuable lessons alive and publicly accessible - for researchers, emergency responders, policy makers and concerned citizens - for the benefit of all.