or standing on the wings . But as more people began to exit , the plane started to become submerged and passengers ' feet started getting cold . See photos of the crash and rescue The quick response may have helped save the lives of passengers , who if not for the rescuers may have been subjected to the frigid Hudson water . It 's one of the things Moore said the Coast Guard focuses on during water rescues , especially in the winter . After only three minutes in cold water , people can lose the use of their arms and legs , according to the Oregon State Marine Board . At the time of the crash it was 21 degrees outside , the water temperature in the Hudson was 32.5 degrees and winds were blowing at 15 mph . Oregon State Marine Board : Surviving cold water immersion Thankfully for passengers , ferry captains like Brittany Catanzaro came quickly to their rescue . Watch passengers describe what happened '' She was at the helm of a New York Waterway ferry during a normal commute across the river when she looked to her right and saw a plane in
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Everyone aboard US Airways Flight 1549 survived when the plane crash-landed into the Hudson River , and that may be due as much to diligent rescue training as luck . Passengers and crew line up outside the plane as boats move in to rescue them . The Coast Guard rescuers who quickly got to the scene and many of the ferries and boats that first responded train for water rescues . `` We , the Coast Guard , we do train for these type of events and these type of situations , scenarios , and one thing we do try to do is try to coordinate with our other maritime agency partners -LSB- so -RSB- that incidents like this go off without a hitch or as safely as possible , '' said Coast Guard Lt. C.K. Moore , who helped coordinate the response . Within minutes of the plane crash-landing into the water , the aircraft was surrounded by ferry boats that had been making their regularly scheduled trips across the Hudson and other boats coordinated by , and including , the Coast Guard . The passengers had begun exiting the plane -- getting into rafts