Coast Guard pilot talks for first time about crash, and decision that saved lives

CRESSKILL, N.J. (WABC) -- For the first time we are hearing from the Coast Guard Auxiliary pilot who crashed a plane onto a field, avoiding another one filled with children in Cresskill, New Jersey.

Yaakov Yosef Rosenberg, 41, was flying the Cessna 172 along with Erik Pearson last week, wrapping up a flight surveying the Hudson River. Rosenberg says there was no sign of trouble before the Cessna suddenly lost power.

They initially were going to try to land in the river, according to air traffic control radio traffic, but then tried to make it to Teterboro Airport before coming down at Regan Field behind the Cresskill Swim Club.

"If I could have landed on the big field over there, I could have made a perfect landing. Walk away," he said in an interview with Eyewitness News reporter Marcus Solis.

The field was filled with children playing soccer. Rosenberg says he even tried to yell and wave for the children to move out of the plane's path. He and his co-pilot veered to another open field hit the ground hard, skidded and came to rest against trees. Officials have said the decision to change course undoubtedly saved lives.

"If I would have killed any kids saving myself, I would have said, 'God, please reverse it. Take me instead,'" Rosenberg explained.

Rescuers quickly pulled the two from the plane and rushed them to the hospital, injured but alive. Rosenberg is out of the hospital now and facing a long recovery. He has titanium rods supporting his broken legs and hundreds of stitches in his head.

Rosenberg has been with the USGS since 2005 and Pearson since 2010. Rosenberg is also a longtime volunteer in the Orthodox community.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) praised Rosenberg as a hero.

"I have known Jack (Yaakov Yosef) Rosenberg for many years. This is our hero, the new Sully Sullenberger. He has long gone out of his way to help anyone in need," Hikind said.

But Rosenberg says he only did what any good pilot would do.

"No pilot in the world would save themselves and kill somebody else. Nope. Nobody," he said.

Investigators with the NTSB are continuing to try to to determine the cause of the accident.