Davidson resident Keith Anthony returned home at 6 o’clock this morning after being among the passengers and crew who survived the water landing of a Charlotte-bound US Airways jet in the Hudson River.

In an email to friends and family Friday morning, Karen Anthony described her husband’s return after a long car ride home.

“We ran out in the dark to meet him. The kids were up and so excited to see him, we clobbered him with hugs as he got out of the car … All Keith had with him was a bag with a Red Cross blanket and some wet socks.”

She said he stayed up a couple of hours with his family, watching morning news shows with reports on the crash, then went to sleep. “We still can’t believe this happened. We are eager to spend the day together and process what he’s been through after he gets some much needed rest.”

The Anthonys did not return a phone call.  (Update: Keith Anthony did call back Friday night, after we published this item.)

Mr. Anthony was heading back to Charlotte on US Airways Flight 1549, an Airbus 320, that took off from LaGuardia Airport in New York Friday afternoon. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot radioed the tower that he had hit two birds. Within a few minutes, he told passengers to brace for an impact, and ditched the plane into the icy Hudson River.

All the passengers and crew survived, rescued by ferries and other emergency boats.

Karen Anthony’s brother in Georgia circulated an email Thursday night saying Mr. Anthony was sitting near the plane’s wing when the crash occurred. After the water landing, he was standing on the wing with other passengers in knee deep water.

“At one point,” the relative wrote, “he was holding two 18-month old babies for someone.”

“When the ferry came he was helping the rest of the passengers get on the ferry. Amazingly, some of the able-bodied men got on the ferry and rushed inside to get warm, but Keith and a few others stayed out and helped the 150 passengers,” he wrote.

In her email this morning, Karen Anthony told friends, “Thank you for your prayers. We can start smiling now and thanking God for his safe return.”

RELATED LINKS

Jan. 17, 2009, Charlotte Observer, “Survivors’ Stories,” includes items about several Charlotte-area survivors of the crash, including Davidson’s Joe Hart.