In an amazing display of citizen journalism, Janis Krums managed to snap this picture with his iPhone while his ferry was on it's way to help rescue passengers of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 after it had crashed in the Hudson River. I have reposted the image here because his original post on TwitPic was unavailable due to the high demand on their servers.

Twitter has been exploding with eye witness accounts of the crash. Apparently after take-off, the plane flew through a flock of geese, which destroyed both engines (a rather unprecedented accident). The pilot was attempting to turn the plane back to the airport but couldn't maintain altitude. Managing an excellent landing in the icy waters, the pilot was able to avoid a much more devastating accident.

It appears now as if all passengers have been rescued. Luckily nobody was seriously injured.

This photo captures the power of citizen journalism and the power of Twitter. Being able to spread this important event in an instantaneous way that doesn't rely on the location of the networks anchors and reporters works wonders for spreading new quickly. I hope more people buy iPhones and subscribe to Twitter. The world will be a more informed place.

Update: Here is a video clip of Janis Krums being interviewed on TV only 30 minutes after the photo above was taken.

Twitter User On MSNBC from AlleyInsider on Vimeo.