Thanks for the link Calkins.This simulator video illustrates just what a fine job the pilot did:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7834499.stm

Thanks a lot for the video. That's the perfect landing, great job!!!

changye, I was thinking the same thing, that there weren't any New Yorkers who filmed it from their apartment window.  There is some recently released footage, taken from the New York City Harbour:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7835465.stm

changye,

Maybe it's on a non English speaking tourists video cam,and thus negotiations for sale of the video is proceeding slowly.Perhaps you could avail your services as an interpreter and collect an agents fee in the process.hehe.

It's hard to believe that nobody claims to have filmed the miraculous landing scene on a video camera or a cellphone so far.

P/S. "ji1" is an old reading of "迹". So dictionary-wise, "ji4" is authentic in modern Mandarin.

;-)  I only know because I've photographed through dirty windows, and at other times through a dirty lens.  The outcome is quite different.

I searched the internet pretty extensively for some great photos of this crash, but there were very few.  I'm sure more will "surface" after a few more days.

calkins,

ah yes;the eye of a photographer is sharp;I'm sure you're right as now you point it out that's exactly what it looks like.

..yeah,you can see that the smudge is far enough away to be half in focus,whereas if it was on the lens it would be more a general slight haze,much more out of focus,like a film or filter across it.\

..they don't all have to be as breathtaking as all your others...it has taught us some great new vocab,and raised something topical at the same time.

The pronunciation for 奇跡 in Taiwan is:

qíjī

Bababardwan, my guess is that the photographer was shooting through a wet or dirty window.

..looks like there's something on the lens.Could it be that a johnny on the spot was there as the plane crashed and got splashed?..

...or perhaps more plausibly could it be droppings from the Canada geese that I heard caused the accident?

It's a feiji qiji 飞机 奇迹 ..thank goodness no-one was hurt [esp Amber in NY who discussed it on her blog]

breakdown:

奇 。。。weird/wonderful [the same 奇 as in 奇怪 meaning strange ]

迹 。。。sign

我才知道纽约哈得孙河那么宽。这次事故让我想起来82年坠入波托马克河的一架美国飞机。但是很遗憾，那时候没有发生奇迹，几乎所有的乘客丧命了。

奇迹 a wonder

极难做到的、不同寻常的事情