When Ricardo C. Valeriano boarded US Airway's Flight 1549 on January 15, 2009, he had no idea that what was to be a routine business trip would turn into a life and death experience. As the flight from New York's LaGuardia Airport ascended into the afternoon sky, a sudden jolt stopped the plane's engines from operating, causing the pilots to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River. It took him weeks before he was able to convey his story. Now, in his own words, he shares what was going through his mind, confronting the notion of dying and why he made the decision to fly again the very next day.

As boarding time approached, passengers began forming a line and within minutes we were on the plane stowing our bags and finding our assigned seat. I was assigned to seat 3F on the right side and in the front of the plane. I placed my overnight bag in the overhead storage bin and laptop bag under the seat directly in front of me. I'd flown nearly 100,000 miles in 2008 alone and have always felt extremely comfortable flying. I heard the roar of the massive engines pulling the plane quickly down the runway in a seemingly routine takeoff. Unknowingly, I was witnessing the beginning of the shortest flight I had ever taken.

As the plane climbed into the sky, it was like any other flight I'd taken over the past 20 years. While gazing out of the plane's small passenger window I noticed a strange formation of what I perceived as fighter jets flying in the distance, but actually they were birds flying much closer. Within seconds, the plane was jolted by what has since been reported as a double-bird strike to each of the two turbine engines. Immediately, I knew we'd hit something because you could hear this thumping sound, and then there was that smell that came through the cabin. It was a mix of what I presume was feathers, flesh, and jet fuel. It's a horrible smell that I will never forget.