“Miracle on the Hudson” passengers meet on fateful flight, fall in love

Every year, New York Magazine rounds up a bunch of reasons to love New York.

Any New Yorker will tell you about the love-hate, abusive relationship we have with this city, with it’s filthy, unpredictable subways and constant buzzing movement and vicious winter winds and punishing summer heat. So sometimes a list is necessary. This year’s near miss Hudson plane crash was a rallying moment for New Yorkers, who especially took a shine to the ballsy pilot who aimed just west of the West Side Highway rather than Teterboro and saved a whole bunch of passengers, albeit soggily.

Nearly a year later, another story has emerged from the Flight 1549 incident, this time with a sappy pic atop a FDNY boat. Laura Zych and Ben Bostic, two passengers on the almost ill-fated flight, met, fell in love and moved in together after the near-tragedy brought them together. Although Zych and Bostic spotted each other while boarding the flight, it would have been another missed connection if the water landing had never happened. But many of the passengers who survived the flight have kept in close contact, maintaining Facebook groups and hosting reunions scattered across the country. Zych and Bostic were able to get to know each other at one such reunion, and have been “dating” ever since.

Zych had this to say about the post-Flight 1549 bonding experience:

The Flight 1549 gang, whose stories have been collected in the new book Miracle on the Hudson, has become very tight-knit. “Even the first time you meet someone from that flight, it’s like you’re instantly bonded,” says Zych. “You can’t be around this group of people and not feel good.” They are planning a big reunion next month in New York. The 1549ers calls their gatherings “celebrate life” nights, and in the same vein, Zych and Bostic have adopted the habit of dancing to their favorite music every night before they go to bed. “We do that as part of our decompressing and loving life,” she says. “Just so that your day ends on a good note.”